Forever is Just a Word
by That Buggy Girl
Summary: DISCONTINUED - Summer's over; the fall semester is starting up. Bankotsu's preoccupied with a busy schedule, Jakotsu's got a job, an apartment and an infatuation with his best friend's roommate...AU; rated for content, language. warning: shonen ai
1. Prologue

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Whee! Look! A sequel!! *points down* I've been tossing around ideas in my mind for a while and I wanted to do some sort of sequel for _Victim_. And I thought of one! YAY!

So this is gonna be a little different. _Victim_ is written entirely in the present tense and from Bankotsu's POV. This is going to slip in and out of perspectives and I haven't decided on a tense…maybe it'll go back and forth. It also might skip randomly around in time. I just finished reading _Fall on Your Knees _(my fav book) and it's written in a very jumpy timeline and rather inspiring.

Set in the fall after Jakotsu graduated, this is going to feature some random other IY characters (ie: Inu Yasha is gonna be in it) and I hope I can write it well ^^v

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It was strange.

Very strange indeed.

Jakotsu looked around the room from where he stood in the doorway. It was so strange to be standing there, not seeing any of his own things meticulously arranged on the left side of the room. Instead of the neat, orderly set-up of the room, there was a wild mess. Boxes and bags were piled up on the floor and clothing, books and other things littered the desk and the bed. 

The young man cringed. How could the occupant of that half of the room stand to live like such a slob?

His dark gaze slid over to the other half of the room. It was also still in a shambles, but he knew that sooner or later there would be some method to the madness. There would be a rhythm, some semblance of order, even he himself would be able to find and borrow things from the somewhat sloppy man living on the right side of room 123 A.

Speaking of whom…A smirk crossed Jakotsu's face as he caught sight of the very person he'd come to see. Halfway under the bed, ass sticking up in the air, Jakotsu assumed his young friend was plugging something in. Oh that ass, that delicious little ass…His fingers twitched slightly as the smirk grew into a full-blown grin.

Under the bed, Bankotsu was indeed fumbling to plug something in. His long braid kept sliding over his shoulder and whacking him in the face and he had to keep pushing it back out of his way. It was dark and dusty under the bed and he wondered why the hell they put the plugs under there, where no one could get to them. 

He shifted slightly, stirring up dust, and sneezed, then cracked his head against the bottom of the bed. "Dammit!" He swore, rubbing grimy fingers under his nose to stop the tickle caused by the dust. 

Bankotsu hated unpacking. He hated it almost as much as he had hated packing in the first place. He could never remember which box he put anything in, or which bag, or where he put it after he unpacked it. It was such a tedious process - wrap this so it doesn't get broken; cram as many of these in as possible; fold the clothes, son, don't just shove them in…He was too impatient to deal with it. He just wanted to stuff everything into a box and get it over with. It was all going to get unpacked in a little while anyway…

Still grumbling as he finally managed to shove the plug into the socket, he let out a little yelp, jerking back, as he felt a hand groping his ass. The back of his skull collided with the bed for a second time, harder this time, followed by a string of curses.

"Shit; shit; shit!"

__

Oops. Jakotsu winced at the sound of his friend's head banging against the bed, followed by some not-so-pleasant language. It sounded like it hurt a lot. He instantly regretted his actions -he didn't want a brain-damaged boyfriend, after all- but it was a little late for that now. "Sorry." He apologized sheepishly as Bankotsu hauled himself up from under the bed.

"Dammit Jakotsu!" Brilliant blue eyes flashed angrily as the shorter man turned to face his other half. He glared for a moment, reaching up to push his bangs back into place and rub the back of his head. "What are you doing here? I'm trying to unpack." He grumbled.

Jakotsu sighed, running slender fingers through his hair. "I just wanted to see you…It's been a whole month." He bit his lip, taking in the disgruntled expression on the other boy's face, "I missed you."

"Couldn't you have waited a couple more hours? I'm really busy." Bankotsu's brow furrowed and he stared up at the man in the doorway.

Said man frowned lightly, tilting his head to the side. "All right. I'll come back later then." He muttered dejectedly, "Thought maybe I could give you a hand…" He twined his hair into a loose ponytail, "I know you hate unpacking."

Bankotsu's eyes closed for a moment as he tried to chase away his agitation. It wasn't fair getting angry at Jakotsu; he hadn't done anything and the hurt plainly visible in his eyes was haunting. "Look, don't leave. I'm sorry." He was deflating like a balloon, "I've missed you too." He said softly.

They stared at one another for a moment, blue eyes meeting charcoal gray ones. It had been a long month -from the end of July to the end of August- and Bankotsu had been a bit apprehensive about the reunion. It didn't matter that they had been in a real relationship for a year and a half; the younger of the two was still touchy and jumpy about the whole thing. His parents didn't know. Hardly any one knew and he was scared of what would happen when…

"You look scared." 

Jakotsu's voice broke the silence and the younger man started visibly, fiddling with the end of his long braid. His heart was racing and he felt all tingly, but wasn't sure exactly why. This was normal; the two of them alone together. He tried to calm down. It didn't work. Tried harder. A month was a long time. Sure, there had been phone calls and instant messages and e-mails, but a month without physical contact…Jakotsu would be wild and violent.

"Bankotsu, what's wrong?" Dark eyes blinked curiously. Jakotsu peered at the soft, childish face of the man he loved, trying to discern what exactly the problem was. _Oh, I could eat you up right now, little boy…_"Are you okay?" He took a step forward, one hand tentatively reaching for his friend's face, then drawing back slightly.

"Do you…Do you just want to do it now and get it over with?" Came the hesitant reply, "I mean, he isn't here right now and my bed is sort of made…" 

There was silence for a moment.

"…The hell?" Jakotsu's eyebrows knit together and his brow furrowed, "You think I came here just to fuck with you?" He asked incredulously. 

"Why else? It's been a month. Why else would you come here?" 

"Maybe because I wanted to see you. Because I love you. Because I missed you. I missed _you._ Physically. The person. Sure I missed the sex and sure I'm aroused, but damn it, I missed you." He crossed the room, standing before the shorter man, "That's why I came."

"…" Bankotsu's gaze dropped to the floor. He felt like a heel after that; felt terrible for even thinking such a thing. "I'm sorry." He mumbled, "I've been kinda stressed and I didn't know what to expect when I came back…I guess I got nervous." He sighed apologetically. 

"It's okay." Jakotsu's smile returned, "I thought you were going to tell me you didn't love me any more or something." He placed a hand under Bankotsu's chin, forcing him to look up and meet his gaze, "You scared me, you dork!"

The younger man cracked a smile, wrapping his arms around his companion. "I still love you. I'm glad you're here and I _know_ you're glad to see me, you horn-dog." He laughed, "Goddammit, I missed you so much."

"Give a guy a proper greeting then." The taller man ducked his head, capturing his lover's lips in a passionate kiss. 

Bankotsu's fingers dug into his back as he kissed back furiously, all of his own pent up desires spilling forth. He strained to reach upward, leaning forwards; he could feel Jakotsu's arousal pressing against his stomach. He squealed; giggling into the kiss, which caused Jakotsu to laugh as well. "I suppose," He drew back slightly, regarding the pale face of the man he had loved for the past two years, "I can take a break from unpacking."

"Score!"

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So there we go. The beginnings of a sequel. And it's mildly racy already. Gee, I'm getting more daring in my writing, ne?

So whatya think? Okay so far? Lemme know…


	2. Chapter 1

"So, tell me about this new roommate of yours. Where the hell is he? Is he a cute one?"

Bankotsu's face reddened as he twisted to look his companion in the eyes. They were sitting on his bed together, he practically in Jakotsu's lap, back rested against the other man's chest. Jakotsu's chin rested on the top of his head and his arms were snaked around Bankotsu's waist. He tugged absently on the waistband of Bankotsu's shorts, fingers running along the elastic, as he spoke.

"What does it matter if he's cute?" One of Bankotsu's eyebrows twitched, "I thought we were supposed to be a couple?"

"Don't get all bent out of shape. I was just wondering…I can still look, can't I?" A sly smile crossed Jakotsu's face, "Or will you get too jealous?" Slender fingers teased across Bankotsu's cheek and a kiss was planted on his forehead.

"I don't give a shit if you look. But don't you be getting any ideas. I put a lot on the line to be with you, don't forget, and I won't put up with you running around on me, got it?" Blue eyes peered intently into steely gray ones, as if he could get his point across better by being intimidating.

"Yes master."

"Dammit; I'm being serious!"

"Sorry." Another kiss, this time closer to his ear, "I'll be a good boy. I promise." 

"You'd better." Came the mumbled reply.

Jakotsu sighed. "Why are you in such a bad mood, Kiddo? We just had sex for the first time in a month. Shouldn't you be happy?" He ran a hand through his hair, pushing the longer parts of his bangs from his eyes as he gazed down upon Bankotsu's tanned face.

"Everything is different now." Came the quiet reply. Bankotsu looked away, picking at the hem of his tousled bedspread, "It's all so different. And I don't want to lose you ever…" Fingers were softly stroking his abdomen; Jakotsu had a hand up under his shirt, trying to soothe him. He wanted to melt at the feathery touch, to stay there, safe and warm, and never leave. _I feel like I'm gonna cry…But I don't cry, dammit!_ "All summer, I had to keep reminding myself that it wouldn't be the same when I came back…" 

Another sigh escaped Jakotsu's lips. "I know it's all different now. There's no point in pretending it isn't." He tightened his grip around the younger man, dark eyes falling shut, "But I want you to tell me exactly what you think has changed."

"We don't live together any more…"

"Well I know _that._ What else?"

"I'm gonna be really busy this year. We'll hardly get to see one another. And when we do, it won't be the same any way. We used to have so much time to just be together. I miss you at night; I miss you in the day; I fucking miss you all the time! I can't sleep any more because I'm not used to sleeping alone and I always have things I want to tell you but you aren't there!" Bankotsu scowled, "I can't get used to being alone again."

There was silence for a moment, then the younger man continued. "And everybody can tell I've changed. All the guys I know back home spent the summer asking me who the 'lucky girl' was because they could tell I was involved with some one. My parents could tell too. It's only a matter of time before every one finds out and then I'm going to be in trouble."

"Don't panic. I don't want you throwing up all over me." Jakotsu half-smiled, burying his face in his friend's hair, "I won't let anything bad happen to you." His hands moved upwards a little, caressing softly, running over flawless skin, "I won't let any one give you any shit." He kissed Bankotsu's neck, "And you're not alone here. Tsuchi and Kebakeba still live across the hall. If any one tries to give you crap and I can't be there for you, OMU* has your back."

"I suppose it could be worse…But I wish things could always stay the same as they were." Bankotsu reached up, pulling Jakotsu's face down and kissing him softly. "I love you." He smiled, "And I hate to spoil the mood, but I think it's about time you put the rest of your clothes back on."

"Oh? You don't find me appealing this way?" The older man's eyes sparkled teasingly.

"Well _I_ do…" Bankotsu blushed lightly as he slid out of his companion's grasp, "But I'm not sure that Inu Yasha will."

"That your new roommate's name?" Jakotsu alighted from the bed, searching for his discarded jeans. 

"Yup."

"So, _is_ he cute?"

"Keba thinks so." Bankotsu's nose wrinkled as he began tucking loose strands of his hair back into his braid, "I wouldn't know."

"Well, what does he look like?" The older man began buttoning up his pink shirt.

"Taller than me-"

"Every one is taller than you."

Bankotsu made a face, "-With long, blond hair. He's got gold eyes, kinda like Sesshomaru, but he's not as refined and snobby looking. They look enough alike that they could be related, come to think of it. He had a baseball cap on and an orientation tee-shirt. He's only a little freshman."

"Hmm…I suppose it makes sense that you get a freshman. Since you're a junior and the other two are seniors this year and I'm gone…No one would just move in here with all of you dysfunctional people."

"Dysfunctional?" The shorter man snorted indelicately, "You fit right in then. No wonder they decided to room with us last year. You're the least sane person I know." He teased.

"Hey now…You might hurt my feelings if you're not careful." Jakotsu stuck out his tongue, "And then I'll get upset and cry and you'll have to make nice with me."

"Oh, shut up. You've already had your fun for the day. I need to finish unpacking and grab some dinner and say hi to Tsuchi so Keba doesn't accuse me of hating him again." Bankotsu rolled his eyes, "I was accosted by Keba as soon as he got here and he wanted to know right away where you were."

"Is he in his room?" Jakotsu grinned, picturing Kebakeba, a fellow Open Minded Unity member and notoriously flamboyant boy of twenty-one. "Kebakeba" was the nickname he had been given by one of his pals back home and it had stuck…No one was even sure what his real name was. He and Jakotsu were good buddies and often consulted with one another on who was hot and who was not.

"Probably. You know how he is about moving in…Runs around like a chicken with his head cut off. I dunno where he gets his energy…"

"Or how Tsuchi puts up with him." Jakotsu rolled his eyes, "But they really do get along famously, the two of them. He -Tsuchi, I mean- probably woulda gone after you if he wasn't already involved with Keba, you know. He thinks you're somethin' else." 

Bankotsu turned pink and busied himself with tying his sneakers. 

"Aww, does that embarrass you?" Jakotsu laughed, tugging on his friend's braid.

"Yes! And it never woulda happened anyway. I'm _not_ gay."

"I beg to differ, mon ami." 

"I'm not! You're just…special. I'd never go for another guy. Other than you, I'm all about chicks." Bankotsu's head jerked up when he heard his friend harrumph disgustedly and a slight frown crossed his face. "But I don't mean now…I've got you, Jakotsu, and I would never cheat…"

"I know." Jakotsu smiled, amused at Bankotsu's blundering, "I know what you meant, silly. Chill out." He patted his friend on the head, "I'm gonna pop in to say hi to Keba. I'll be back in a little bit, 'kay?" 

"All right." Bankotsu nodded, stretching and cracking his back in the process. He smiled to himself as he watched Jakotsu depart, shaking his head slightly. _I do love that man…_

The young man resumed sorting through his boxes, looking for all the things that went on his desk. He heard a squeal, followed by loud, exuberant chattering which he assumed was Kebakeba recounting his summer to Jakotsu and his smile spread. Keba might have been really obnoxious, but he was an okay guy and he genuinely liked Jakotsu…And not many people did.

"Hello, Bankotsu." 

A quiet voice snapped the boy out of his thoughts and he looked up, this time finding Tsuchi standing in the doorway. He studied the other boy, noting that he hadn't changed at all in the three months since school had let out. Shoulder-length, dark hair, deep eyes; Tsuchi was dressed in his usual jeans and black tee-shirt, complete with a knit hat, even though it was the end of august. He was leaned against the doorframe, peering intently at Bankotsu, inky gaze burning through the other boy.

"Hiya Tsuchi. Have a nice summer?"

"Mm-hmm. Keba is happy to see Jakotsu." He paused, "And I'm sure you are too."

"Well," Bankotsu scratched the back of his head, "I saw him a couple a times over the summer. And we talked on the phone a lot and stuff." An awkward silence followed, "What about you and Keba? You guys see each other a lot?"

"We went camping. Hung out. Usual summer stuff. Sometimes I think he's getting bored with me." Tsuchi's head tipped to the side, silky hair sliding across his forehead, "I'm not very exciting, am I?"

Bankotsu blinked, studying the other boy. Tsuchi was a year younger than he was, came from an overbearing family and was an art major. He came from a quiet little town in the middle of nowhere and other than his art skills, really _wasn't _very exciting. "Who says you have to be exciting for him to like you? Isn't he exciting enough for the both of you?"

Right on cue, Keba burst into the room, tackling Tsuchi in a hug; his shaggy brown hair flying wildly around his face and a grin spread from ear to ear. Tsuchi squawked and stumbled a little as the weight of his friend hit him, flailing to regain his balance before the two crashed to the floor. "Heh…Sorry, Tsu." Keba smiled sheepishly, "Didn't think I would catch you so off guard." He planted a playful kiss on Tsuchi's cheek and then beamed up at the occupant of the room, "Ahoy, Bankotsu!"

"Hi again, Keba." Bankotsu rolled his eyes, "I think you just destroyed Tsuchi. Now you need a new roommate."

"I'll take yours." Kebakeba's eyebrows wiggled suggestively, "He's just to die for." He glanced at Jakotsu who stood behind them in the hall, "You've got to see him. He is a hot little thing." He giggled uncontrollably, easily ignoring Tsuchi's death glare, "I had to restrain myself from touching his hair. It was _gorgeous_."

Tsuchi pushed himself off the floor, grumbling under his breath. He straightened his hat, tucking a strand of hair behind his ear, and marched out of the room. Keba blinked, staring after him for a moment, then seemed to realize that it was his fault his friend was upset. "Oh, oops…Tsuchi, wait!" He ran out of the room in a swirl of tie-dye and fuchsia fabric.

Bankotsu shook his head and Jakotsu snickered. "Hopeless." He laughed, "Those two…" Jakotsu flashed a grin at his friend, "They're utterly hopeless."

"And you aren't?" Bankotsu began pulling packs of ramen out of a box and stuffing them into a drawer on the desk.

"So where is this stud of a roommate? I'm really curious now…"

"He went to that lame picnic thing in the courtyard. Freshmen seem to get lured to that thing like nobody's business. He mumbled something about looking for people he met at orientation, then disappeared. Haven't got a clue when he'll get back." Bankotsu shrugged, "So you probably won't get to see him. Now here," He shoved a box full of books towards his companion, "Make yourself useful and put these on the shelf."

"Yes sir." Jakotsu flashed another grin and began digging through the small assortment of manga, books of guitar tabs, old textbooks and sci-fi novels. He sorted them by subject, then alphabetized them, arranging them meticulously on the shelf above the desk. Bankotsu had realized early on that his former roommate was surprisingly neat and orderly, everything had its place and everything was to remain in that place.

A comfortable atmosphere settled in around the two. Jakotsu began humming Ophidia's latest hit, mumbling to words to himself, and Bankotsu arranged his CD collection and guitar equipment. The familiar sounds of Kebakeba and Tsuchi "making up" drifted across the hall, to which Bankotsu blushed slightly, but it was all familiar, exactly as it had been the last semester.

About an hour or so passed. Once Jakotsu was satisfied that there was some method to the madness, he nodded his approval to the setup of the room. Bankotsu smiled; glad he had pleased the older man, and started hauling the boxes out of the room for recycling. "You want to go get something to eat?" He asked when he came back, "The stupid picnic shindig is still goin' on." 

Jakotsu looked at his watch. "Nah; I gotta get going. I have to get ready for work." He brushed back Bankotsu's bangs, lips brushing across his forehead, "I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Okay." 

"I love you." The taller man leaned over to kiss him softly, wrapping thin arms around him, holding him close. Bankotsu snuggled into the embrace, blushing lightly, reaching up to return the kiss.

"Love you too." He mumbled.

"You're cute when you blush." Jakotsu grinned, ruffling the shorter man's hair and placing a second kiss on his forehead as he turned to exit the room, leaving behind a very flustered Bankotsu.

__

Dammit, why do I still get embarrassed?? Bankotsu could feel the heat leaving his cheeks as the sounds of Jakotsu pounding on the door across the hall drifted into the room. "Hey you nymphos! I'm leaving! You gonna come say good-bye or are you too busy?" He heard Jakotsu yell through the door, which resulted in an angry "HEY!!" from Tsuchi and a cheerful "S'long!" from Kebakeba.

Smiling, he shook his head and turned back to make sure everything was unpacked. This would be his home for the next nine months, so it might as well be up to his standards…Although…It just wasn't the same without Jakotsu there. Inu Yasha appeared to be a slob…His stuff was thrown everywhere, clothes shoved in the dresser, junk tossed all over the desk and in the closet. Bankotsu wrinkled his nose. No neat freak was he, but he did like some sort of order to a room.

It would be an interesting year.

Checking his pocket to make sure he had his key and his ID card, the young man decided he would go scope out the picnic anyway. He _was _hungry and this was probably his only chance to get a decent hamburger all semester. He paused to lock the door, hoping Inu Yasha wasn't so much of a slob that he left his key behind somewhere and wouldn't be able to get back in, then stopped outside of room 122, wondering if he should invite Keba and Tsuchi along or if they were still going at it in there.

Silence reigned in the hallway and his face flushed red at the thoughts of what could possibly be taking place in there. He quickly decided against knocking, trying to chase away all the nasty mental images filling his mind. _If they get hungry, they know where they can get food…_

Twenty minutes later, having ingested a hamburger and a coke, Bankotsu wandered around the stalls and tables set up in the courtyard. Most of them belonged to clubs who were trying to recruit new members, such as the fanatical religious club with their goodie-goodie attitudes, who stared at him like hawks about to swoop in on their prey until several members of OMU began waving at him.

"Bankotsu!" 

The religious fanatics recoiled instantly. Pretty much every one on campus assumed you had to be "one of them" to be friends with OMU members and the Bible thumpers weren't about to try and recruit some one who was "intentionally sinning." Bankotsu sighed with relief…_Saved by the queers…Aw, crap; I'm not supposed to call them that now!_ Mentally he slapped himself as he made his way over to their table.

"There's my charming little quadmate."

Bankotsu rolled his eyes, taking in the diabolical grin plastered on the face of one of the other occupants of his quad. "Hey Naraku." He said warily, leveling his own gaze with that of the vindictive senior. The other boy looked just as malevolent as usual; his dark, wavy hair pulled half off his face, brown eyes glinting mischievously. He and Bankotsu had a sort of uneasy friendship…Neither one really trusted the other, but for the sake of living together they had agreed to be civil towards one another. 

Bankotsu had realized early on that it was better to stay on Naraku's good side anyway.

"So, my little fruit fly, how do you like the newbie?" Naraku leaned back in his chair, running a hand through his long, kinky hair, "Something about him rubs me the wrong way…"

Bankotsu shrugged. "He seems okay…Messy and all, but okay."

"He's not bad looking." The other boy said nonchalantly as he studied his nails, "I suppose Jakotsu will have a little crush on him. Then there'll be little lovers' quarrels followed by plenty of hot make up sex."

"Oh shut the hell up." Bankotsu grumbled, glaring at his quadmate. He could feel his face heating and wondered how long it would be before he could successfully lie about his love life without turning as red as a tomato.

"Hey; it's cool." Naraku doodled on one of the fliers about OMU, drawing some random cartoonish monkey, "I mean, it's not like we don't know when you guys are doing it. You're not exactly quiet, ya know." Bankotsu, if possible, turned ever redder, which caused Naraku to laugh. "I'm only kidding, you idiot. God, it's easy to get you embarrassed, isn't it? Chill out. It's not like I'm gonna bust on you for committing sins or anything…What you do with him is your business. I just like to get ya riled up."

"I hate you."

"The feeling is mutual then." Came the jovial reply.

Bankotsu shot Naraku one last glare, then marched off in the direction of a snow cone stand, grumbling to himself. After getting himself a blue snow cone, he wandered around some more, picking up some free red dragon pride stuff here and there at different tables. 

He was checking out the poster sale when he heard a somewhat familiar voice behind him. "That's my roommate."

The braided boy half-turned, finding himself staring up at the golden gaze of his new roommate, Inu Yasha. Taller than Bankotsu by a few inches, Inu Yasha was a lean, lanky teenager with ash-blond hair. He had a sort of childish appearance and a red dragons baseball cap was pulled over his forehead. He was wearing baggy khakis and a red tee-shirt, scuffed up sneakers on his feet. There was a girl behind him, sort of pretty, with black hair and brown eyes. She was chatting with another girl with a high ponytail and a punkish guy with several earrings and a short little ponytail.

"Oh, hey, Inu Yasha." He greeted the younger boy pleasantly, "Friends of yours, I assume?" He nodded in the direction of the other three, his braid bouncing against his back.

"Ah, yeah." Inu Yasha muttered, "We met at orientation." He pointed at them each in turn, "That's Kagome," -the black-haired girl- "That's Sango," -the girl with the ponytail- "And that's Miroku." -the guy.

"I'm Bankotsu." Bankotsu studied them each. Both of the girls were attractive and he was sure that Jakotsu would say the guy was too. But then, Jakotsu thought a lot of guys were attractive…"So you're all freshmen?" 

Nods all around. "What about you?" The black-haired girl, Kagome, spoke up.

"I'm a junior. I needed a new roomie because my old one graduated." Bankotsu explained, "But Jakotsu lives in town now and we're real good friends, so he'll be around campus a lot. I don't really have many friends, so there was no one I could ask to room with me and they put Inu Yasha in the room."

"I get it." Kagome nodded, "It was nice meeting you. Sango and I better get to our room now." She smiled, "C'mon, Sango." She grabbed the other girl by the wrist and dragged her off in the other direction, leaving the three boys standing there.

"So," Miroku looked at Bankotsu, eyebrows rising, "You know any hot chicks?"

"Uh…" The older boy's face reddened, "Actually…"

"Oh, EW!" 

He jerked to attention, startled by Inu Yasha's disgusted shriek. Blue eyes followed the blonde's gaze and stopped on...Tsuchi and Kebakeba? Tsuchi looked just as dark and brooding as always, but there was a small smile played across his face. Keba was clinging to his arm, grinning excitedly. He was still wearing his rainbow tie-dye, but the button-down fuchsia shirt he'd been wearing over it was now knotted around his waist. He was chattering loudly about something and beaming up at Tsuchi who in turn offered a rare grin back down at him.

Bankotsu's gaze swiveled back over to Inu Yasha. The freshman looked as if he were going to be ill. His nose was wrinkled, his brow furrowed and his golden eyes wide. "That is SO gross. Look at those two fags." He stated a little too loudly.

Bankotsu frowned, his heart sinking deep into the pit of his stomach. This did not bode well. Not well at all. "They happen to be friends of mine." He informed to other boy tersely, "And fairly good ones at that."

Right on cue, Keba caught sight of them standing there and waved wildly, "Ahoy, Bankotsu!!" He yelled his characteristic greeting before latching back onto his boyfriend's arm. Tsuchi nodded his head politely, pausing to push Keba's hair out of his eyes, and the older man responded by yanking him down into a kiss. 

Inu Yasha looked as if he was about to vomit.

Bankotsu sighed. It was going to be one hell of a semester.

________________

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*OMU (Open Minded Unity) is the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender association on my campus. Since I'm basing a lot of this un-named college on my college, I figured it wouldn't hurt to chuck that in. 

Kebakeba is the Japanese word for "garish." Since Keba-kun is a male-embodiment of me (yeah, a side-character self-insert. Shame on me.) and I'm rather loud, flashy and flamboyant; I decided it would be a good name for him. Tsuchi is his roommate/significant other.

I do not approve of the labels "queer" and "fag" for homosexual people. However, since Inu-kun is a homophobe, those words will probably pop up here and there. 


	3. Chapter 2

"My roommate is a homophobe."

Kebakeba looked up from playing with Tsuchi's silky hair. The two boys were cuddled up together on Tsuchi's bed, the younger laying with his head on Keba's lap. Tsuchi looked flustered -Bankotsu didn't doubt that he was embarrassed by his boyfriend's kissing him in the middle of campus- and he stared off at the wall, his cheeks slightly flushed. Keba was stroking his hair, running fingers through it -it was odd to see him without his hat on- and frowning lightly, but whether it was because he had upset Tsuchi or he was troubled by Bankotsu's announcement was unknown.

"What makes you say that?" Keba asked absently, fingers still twined in the silky locks. One hand drifted down to caress Tsuchi's cheek, to which the sophomore smiled slightly. Keba smiled quickly back at him, then his gaze lifted and leveled with Bankotsu's, looking at him questioningly.

"Well," Bankotsu scratched the back of his head nervously, "He saw the two of you together at the picnic and looked like he was about to hurl."

Keba winced and Tsuchi's dark eyes flashed angrily. For once, the exuberant senior was silent, his face tinged slightly pink. Tsuchi pushed himself up into a sitting position, glaring in the direction of Bankotsu and Inu Yasha's room. He didn't say anything, but disgust was written clearly across his face, and the other two boys already knew his feelings on people who preached the evils of homosexuality. "It's okay, Tsu." Keba said soothingly, "He's just stupid and ignorant like the rest of them. He doesn't get it."

"What am I gonna do, guys?" Bankotsu asked worriedly, "If he finds out about me and Jakotsu, he's not going to have any respect for me or anything. He'll make my life hell. If he was cool with this, it wouldn't be so bad, but I don't think he's going to be very understanding at all…"

"It's none of his fucking business who you're with and if he can't get that through his head, tough for him. It's not that people like him don't understand, it's that people like him don't _want_ to understand." Keba's eyebrows knit together, "And I hope to God you're not ashamed by any of this, Bankotsu. It's about time you start acting proud of who you are. You can't keep running from the truth, you know."

"Keba…" Tsuchi finally spoke, "It isn't fair of you to preach things like that. You haven't told your parents yet, remember?" Inky eyes blinked as the younger boy peered at his companion, "So none of that crap from you."

Keba scowled, then turned back to Bankotsu. "If the kid really is some kinda homophobe, he's in for a wild year…I mean, this is like the gay ward. Look who he's got…" He flashed a toothy grin, "Me, you, this one here," he jerked his head in Tsuchi's direction, causing his brown hair to bounce, "Naraku…We ain't sure about Juuroumaru, but Naraku thinks he could go both ways. They had a little 'incident,' if ya know what I mean." His eyebrows rose slightly, "The guys in this whole wing of the dorm are pretty much bisexuals and gays. Sesshomaru is gone now and I think he was the straightest guy here." 

"I feel sorry for him then." Tsuchi was rummaging through a bag hanging from the bedpost, "It's going to be hell for him, being the only straight guy here." He fished around until he came up with a package of rice crackers, then settled back on the bed, fumbling to tear the plastic, "You know?"

"I'm _not_ gay." Bankotsu insisted for the second time that day.

"We know; we know…" Kebakeba spoke as he would to a small child as he took the package from Tsuchi and tore it open, "You're bi."

"I'm not that either!!" The other boy shouted in frustration.

"Well, what are you then?" Keba sighed as he pulled a few crackers out and began munching on them.

"I'm straight. Heterosexual. Into girls."

"Gimme those." Tsuchi crawled across Keba, reaching for the crackers.

"Look, Bankotsu, you've been sleeping with Jakotsu for, like, a year and a half. If you can't even admit it to yourself, how are you going to face Inu Yasha when the issue becomes a problem?" The brown-haired boy relinquished the snack to his friend and flopped down on his back, chocolate gaze still resting on Bankotsu's face, "You love Jakotsu, right?"

"Right." Bankotsu muttered, blushing slightly.

"So what is the frickin' problem then? You don't wanna wind up like me with all kinds of regrets, do you? I mean, after I found out Kiyaku was getting married, it was too late for me. I thought I'd never get over him…And that was my fault, because I worried too much about what every one else would think. I lost my best friend to a woman because I was afraid to face the world with what I am." Keba paused for a moment and silence fell over the three.

Tsuchi fidgeted slightly, staring down at the dark purple carpeting. He twisted a strand of hair around his finger, suddenly not hungry. It still unnerved him when Kebakeba talked about the past and Kiyaku, still bothered him to think he was just a replacement for what Keba had lost. _It's because we were friends before…Because he wanted to forget about Kiyaku. So he settled for me…_He sighed, running a hand absently through his hair. 

Kebakeba, looking uncharacteristically solemn, reached over and caught Tsuchi by the wrist. "Hey, cheer up, Tsu." He smiled faintly, tracing a finger along the younger boy's cheek, "I'm happy we're together." He kissed the tip of Tsuchi's nose, "But the point is, you don't want to do anything stupid because you're scared or worried about what people will think, Bankotsu. I got lucky that things worked out with Tsuchi, but if you give up Jakotsu for some stupid reason, you might not be so lucky. You shouldn't have to compromise your feelings to make other people happy." A frown crossed his face, "Or you might regret it for the rest of your life."

Tsuchi's gaze lowered again and he huddled in the corner on the bed, a pillow clutched in his lap. He was twisting the striped pillowcase around in his hands, staring at a King Hippo poster on the wall, looking everywhere but at Keba. _He regrets me. He wishes he told Kiyaku sooner so he wouldn't have married that girl. He says he's happy…But he's not._

Bankotsu looked at Tsuchi for a moment, studying the younger boy's drawn face. Then he glanced at Kebakeba, taking in his serious expression. "When it's an issue…" He murmured, "Then I'll tell him." He nodded, more to reassure himself than to emphasize the point. His cerulean gaze swept across the two on the bed once more, hoping that everything would be okay for them, then he wandered out of the room and back across the hall.

--

"What are you doing?" 

Inu Yasha'a head snapped up at the accusing sound of Bankotsu's voice and he nearly dropped the picture frame in his hand. "Just lookin' at your pictures." He mumbled, "Is that a problem?" He fumbled for a moment to set the frame back where it had been on the desk and straightened up, golden gaze piercing through the older boy.

"No." Bankotsu's brow furrowed, "But I'd prefer if you asked before touching my stuff."

"Keh." Inu Yasha folded his arms, turning away. There was an awkward silence for a moment, then he looked back over at Bankotsu. "Who's the fruitcake you're with in those pictures?" He asked casually, pointing at a couple of the frames near Bankotsu's computer.

A frown darkened Bankotsu's face. "That 'fruitcake' is my best friend." He said through gritted teeth, "And he happens to be the guy you're replacing in the room." He glanced at the pictures for a moment; one of him and Jakotsu together in the grass on the hill -Tsuchi had taken that right before the end of the semester last spring- and one of them playing Beetle Racers on Keba's Playstation which Naraku had snapped after yelling "hey guys, lookit me!" so they were both twisted around, confused expressions on their faces. Then there was the one from graduation…That had been an emotional day for them both…Bankotsu fingered the silver frame. In the picture, he was smiling, dressed neatly; he appeared happy. Jakotsu -in his cap and gown- was beaming, arms tossed around his friend. _We were so happy then._ _Was that really only three months ago…?_

"Are you okay?" Inu Yasha questioned, a puzzled expression crossing his face. Bankotsu seemed to be in a trance as he stared at the picture, a soft, wistful smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"Huh?" Bankotsu snapped back to reality and scratched the back of his head sheepishly, "Yeah; I'm fine. Just thinking about things…" He climbed up onto his bed, kicking off his shoes on the way, "It's going to be way weird getting used to a new roommate. Jakotsu and I've lived together since I first got here."

Inu Yasha shrugged. "I gotta get used to it too…Even if I _did_ have to put up with my annoying bastard of a brother; I had my own room at home."

"Well, I'm sure we'll get along okay." A half-smile crept across the junior's face, "I'm pretty easy to live with, or so I've been told. It's Naraku and Juuroumaru you've got to watch out for. Naraku is an ass and he likes making people miserable…Juuroumaru, he can be a pain if you get him angry at you. He doesn't say much, but don't let him fool you…He can be pretty violent."

"Oh." Inu Yasha settled himself down in front of his computer, tipping back in his desk chair, "What about the guys across the hall?"

"Two of them," Bankotsu paused for a moment, wondering how to put this so that it wouldn't come out too awkward or accusing, "Are the 'fags' who were waving at me before." Was it his imagination, or did Inu Yasha suddenly look sort of green? "Tsuchi, the black-haired one, he's a sophomore; an art major. Kebakeba is a senior and he's in Methods this semester. He wants to be a teacher. The other guy in that room is the RA, Koga. He's a bit of a jock and always looking for a woman."

"Oh. Okay." He swiveled around, turning back to the computer screen.

Bankotsu shrugged. "There'll be a hall meeting in a little while. Then every one meets every one else and everything. Most of us know each other already though. It's really just you and some of the girls who are new." He picked up his headphones and untangled the wires, then shuffled through his CDs, looking for "RaNDoM: Live at JCHS." 

"Baaaaaankotsu!!!"

Bankotsu yanked off his headphones and glanced at the clock. He'd been sitting on the bed, listening to music for nearly an hour and Kebakeba was in the doorway, beaming. "It's time for the hall meeting, you two." He said excitedly, "C'mon; Koga wants us outside, on the wall."

"Gimme a sec…I need to put my shoes back on." Bankotsu climbed down off the bed, "I'll be out in a minute."

"Okie dokie." Keba scampered out of the room, his voice floating back in "Naraku! Juuroumaru! Come on; time for the meeting!" Then, further down the hall, booming, "Ladies!!"

Inu Yasha stretched; popping several joints and scratching his back. "Will this take a long time?"

"Why? You have something planned?" Bankotsu looked at him, one eyebrow cocked, as he tied his left shoe.

"I just, y'know, don't want to be around _them_ very long." The freshman fidgeted, shuffling his feet nervously.

"Around who?" The dark-haired man's eyebrows knit together and he frowned, cramming his right foot into the sneaker and tightening the laces.

"The queers…"

"You know, it's not like they're going to give you gay or something. Geez, how close-minded can a person get?" Bankotsu rolled his eyes, "You either are or you aren't. They're perfectly normal people." This said, he straightened and marched out of the room, leaving the other boy standing there.

Five minutes later, the entire residence of Koufukin Hall, first floor, west, was sitting lined up side by side on the wall between buildings. The girls were all giggling together at one end and the boys were casually lounging here and there at the other. Kebakeba and Tsuchi were in the middle, Keba nestled against a slightly blushing Tsuchi. Nobody really seemed surprised by this, but some of the girls were giggling and squealing and Inu Yasha looked tense and uncomfortable.

"Welcome back; ladies, gentlemen." Heads snapped up at the sound of the RA's voice. Koga was a tall, wiry boy with long black hair pulled up in a ponytail. "And welcome to those of you who are new." His blue gaze panned across the expectant faces of the bunch lining the wall, "Most of you know the rules already, but I have to tell you all this anyway, so bear with me. There's no drinking or smoking in the dorm. No drinking at all; this is a dry campus." He glared at Naraku, who simply grinned smugly, "Quiet hours are from eleven to seven on weeknights and one till seven on weekends." Another glare in the direction of the kinky-haired senior, "There's to be no candles, no open flames of any kind, no microwaves, hot pots or coffee makers in the rooms. Laundry rooms are in the pit; the trash room is at the end of our hall." He paused for a moment, trying to remember if there was anything else, "If you have any questions or whatever, I'm in room 122 B."

Silence for a moment, then the RA spoke up again. "Now for the part I know you all love." Groans from the returning students, "Time for names and all that."

"Do we have to do this again?" Naraku whined, "We know each other already."

Koga's glare intensified, burning through Naraku. "Some people don't know each other. Like the puppy over there." He jerked a thumb in Inu Yasha's direction, "You know the drill. Name, year, major and some other random fact about yourself. Since you're so eager, Naraku, why don't you begin?"

"Fine; fine." The boy languidly pushed his hair out of his eyes, "Naraku, senior, theater major. Random fact about me?" He paused for a moment, "Most of my roles have involved me playing the part of a woman." He smiled coyly, winking at Inu Yasha, who recoiled in disgust. "Your turn, puppy."

For a moment, Inu Yasha looked revolted. Then his disgust turned to outrage at having been called "puppy." He balled his hands into fists and glared at the senior, golden eyes burning into Naraku's brown ones. Naraku seemed to not care, just sat there staring back, brown eyes unblinking. The rest of the group watched curiously, wondering if there would be some sort of brawl.

Koga sighed, dragging a hand across his face. Leave it to Naraku to get on the freshman's bad side right away. "Can we just get on with it?" Bright blue eyes rolled. "Puppy, you're up."

"Don't call me that." Inu Yasha grumbled, "'M Inu Yasha. I'm a freshman and I'm undeclared right now. Uh, I guess…Uh, my brother graduated from here last semester. Sesshomaru. He lived in this hall."

"Yeah, we all know him." Naraku butted in, "Had somethin' up his ass, didn't he? Whew; he was a social dud…"

"Shut up, Naraku!" Koga growled, "You're making this take longer than necessary."

"True…" Naraku nodded, "Shutting up now." He glanced at his braided quadmate, one eyebrow rising.

The junior rolled his eyes, but proceeded with the introduction. "I'm Bankotsu, a junior, music industry major. Um…" He paused for a moment, thinking, "My favorite band is Purple Haze and I have all of their albums."

"Me next! Me next!!" Kebakeba waved an arm around wildly, "I'm Kebakeba, I'm a senior and I'm entering my Methods block. Next semester I get to student teach!" He squealed excitedly, "And…I really hate shoes!" As if to emphasize this point, he wiggled his toes, grinning like an idiot. "Your turn, Tsu." He poked his companion.

Tsuchi blinked, haunting gaze drifting across all the people looking at him expectantly. "My name is Tsuchi." He said quietly, "I'm a sophomore and an art student. I'm the only one here besides Koga who knows Keba's real name."

Keba nodded. "And it's gonna stay that way, right?"

"Yes."

And so it continued. Every one introduced themselves and said something about themselves until they returned to Koga. He pointed out a few more things, then dismissed the group, reminding them again of where they could find him if he had any questions. Some off them wandered off to the dining hall, some went back into the dorm.

Bankotsu was unlocking the door while Inu Yasha shuffled around impatiently behind him, shifting from one foot to another. The freshman was feeling antsy and restless; he just wanted to get into a somewhat familiar setting and get on his computer. The older boy couldn't seem to remember which key was for the door to the common room, which was for the door to his bedroom and which was for the mailbox. "Dammit!" He cursed under his breath, finally shoving the correct key into the lock just as some one grabbed him from behind.

"Bankotsu!" Kebakeba exclaimed gleefully, feeling the younger boy start at his touch, "I wanna hear all about your summer and everything! Tsu and I are gonna hang out in here for a while, 'kay?"

"Uh…" Bankotsu blinked, then glanced at Inu Yasha, who had backed away slightly, looking terrified. He shrugged, not really caring what the homophobic freshman thought at the moment. To be honest, he wasn't quite sure he could handle being alone in the room at the moment anyway. He dreaded going back in and not seeing all of Jakotsu's things…"I guess it's okay."

He pushed the door open and ushered his friends into the common room. Inu Yasha instantly made a bee-line for the bedroom, shutting himself safely inside with his computer, away from the "queers." Naraku and Juuroumaru had gone out to celebrate the beginning of the semester with some buddies of theirs, so the three boys had the room to themselves.

Keba immediately began an inspection of the common room, looking over the collection of DVDs piled in a box near the TV. Tsuchi made himself comfortable on the small couch, stretching long legs up to rest on the make-shift coffee table created out of a board laid across a couple cinderblocks --Naraku's idea of furniture. Bankotsu closed the door leading to the hall part-way and sank down into the beanbag chair Jakotsu had left behind for him, purposely leaving the other end of the couch available for Keba to sit next to his friend.

In the end, there was no need for that. Kebakeba plopped unceremoniously down on Tsuchi's lap, draping an arm around the younger boy's shoulder. Tsuchi's face paled for a moment, then turned very red as a small smile lit his dark features. His blush deepened as Keba shifted to make himself comfortable until he was bright red. Bankotsu blinked, momentarily wondering why his friend was changing colors, but Keba simply grinned mischievously, giggling as he kissed his boyfriend on the cheek. "Somebody's happy to see me." He teased in a singsong voice.

Tsuchi looked like he wanted to crawl under a rock. Bankotsu was mortified. At least Jakotsu had attempted to try and control himself when other people were present. Keba, on the other hand, had absolutely no shame. "So…" The braided boy spoke up, trying to ease the somewhat uncomfortable atmosphere, "What did you guys do all summer?"

Inside the bedroom, Inu Yasha was searching desperately for his headphones. _Must…have…music…_He didn't want to run the chance of overhearing any of the conversation in the common room, for fear of what one of the queers would say. For some reason, it didn't seem to bother Bankotsu at all; Inu Yasha's roommate seemed to have absolutely no problem with the fact that they were surrounded by sickos. 

Then a horrifying though crossed his mind. _Suppose Bankotsu is gay too! _Inu Yasha froze for a moment, turning the idea over and over in his mind. It made sense, after all. The guy who lived here before -Jakotsu- he didn't look like he was anything _but _gay…And he and Bankotsu were _best friends_…The freshman paled significantly. 

But Bankotsu neither looked nor acted gay…Inu Yasha's eyebrows knit together as he studied one of the pictures on the junior's desk a second time. There was Bankotsu, hair pulled back as usual, wearing a black t-shirt with the Purple Haze logo emblazoned across the front. He was flopped down on his back, lying on a patch of grass, his head resting in Jakotsu's lap. Jakotsu, Inu Yasha noted, definitely looked very fruity. He had a pink button-down shirt on and gray, silky-looking pant. His dark hair was pulled up in a loose ponytail and -dear God- was that lipstick? 

The young man felt ill. Why was he cursed with the bad luck to be surrounded by homos? How would he survive nine months with those _weirdoes_ around him? It was bad enough with the two across the hall, but his own roommate? 

Another glance at the picture. The way the two men in the picture were looking at each other, it was as if they shared some great secret. One of Jakotsu's hands rested on Bankotsu's forehead as if he had been brushing back the younger man's bangs and Bankotsu was smiling faintly; it almost appeared that he was forcing himself to be happy. But something about their eyes…

The boy recoiled in horror. No wonder Sesshomaru had gone around smirking so much when they received Inu Yasha's housing information in the mail. Sesshomaru had known it would be like this, but hadn't bothered to inform him…His brother knew about his phobia and had done this on purpose. Inu Yasha scowled, turning away from the picture and resuming his search for his headphones.

He never found them.

Sighing, Inu Yasha resigned himself to the fact that he would have to make do without and plopped down at his desk. Moments later, he was absorbed in browsing through the files at AnimeMusicVideos.org, punk rock music pouring from his speakers. His golden gaze settled on the screen as he browsed for songs and shows he liked and he momentarily forgot about the other boys out in the common room.

He managed to forget, that is, until a loud shriek of laughter resounded from the other room. Startled, he jerked back, nearly tipping over his chair in the process. His eyes flashed dangerously and he leapt up from his chair, storming out of the bedroom. "What the hell is going on out-!" He froze in the doorway, gaping at the sight before his eyes.

Tsuchi and Kebakeba were still together on the couch, only now they were facing one another and Keba had his legs wrapped around Tsuchi's waist and his face buried in his shoulder as he tried to control his laughter. He giggled madly, shoulders shaking beneath the tie-dyed tank top as he clutched at Tsuchi's dark tee-shirt. Bankotsu was sprawled over the beanbag chair, laughing as well, and Tsuchi looked furious, as if he had been the butt of whatever the joke had been, but there was a sparkle in his eyes and he cracked a smile which quickly turned into a snicker then a full-blown laugh.

"Would you all shut up?" Inu Yasha spat out trying to block out the sight of the three of them, "You guys are so fucking loud." His amber glare swept from one to the other, his mouth turned down in a scowl.

"Lighten up. You're really wound up, aren't you?" Keba looked up at him from over Tsuchi's shoulder, grinning lazily and hiccupping as he tried to stop laughing, "You only get one go-round, so you might as well make the best of it, ya know?" 

The blonde's eyes nearly bugged out of his head and he stared at the brunette, aghast. "I don't need advice from some one like _you_." His jaw clenched and he steeled his gaze, eyes never leaving the older boy's face. 

Keba blinked in confusion. "Some one like me?" He looked questioningly at Tsuchi and Bankotsu, who shrugged uncomfortably, then back up at Inu Yasha, "What do you mean, _some one like me_?"

Bankotsu shifted uneasily, the beanbag chair making a _chuff-chuff _noise beneath him. This could only go from bad to worse and Keba was the kind of person who would argue any point to death if it meant defending himself and Tsuchi…_Dammit, why did we have to get a homophobe? Why couldn't he have been understanding at least? It's bad enough not having Jakotsu here, but with this guy…Everybody is going to be miserable._ He felt a sudden twinge of sadness. _Why does everything have to be so different?_

"You mean some one who likes guys, don't you?" Keba continued, "You think I have some kind of disease? That I'm insane? You think I'm going to try and make you gay or something?" Brown eyes flashed angrily, "Just because I happen to like men as much as women doesn't mean I'm a terrible, bad person."

Inu Yasha stared at him a moment longer, then turned to go back into the room, ash-blond hair swirling around him. He paused in the doorway, one hand raised to the doorframe, "That's exactly what it means." He said coolly before marching back into the bedroom.

Keba, for once, had absolutely nothing to say. He simply lowered his head, burying his face back in Tsuchi's shoulder. The sophomore didn't say anything either, rather he stroked his friend's back slowly, an angry expression on his face. His dark eyes flashed dangerously, a sure sign that he would destroy Inu Yasha if he ever heard the younger man say anything like that again. 

Bankotsu stared at his hands in his lap. If Inu Yasha was going to be like that, it would be impossible for him to have Jakotsu around…That made his heart ache. How would he survive without Jakotsu? He needed the older man to calm him down when he was stressed over school work, needed him to keep him from being hurt by people like Inu Yasha who didn't seem to understand the complicated nature of their relationship, just needed him to be there and encourage him. How could he possibly survive on his own?

Fact was, he couldn't. The summer had been proof of this. He'd gotten far too used to being in his friend's presence; far too used to having Jakotsu by his side. And now it was torture for him that they were so close, yet so far apart. He ran a hand wearily through his bangs, pushing himself up from the beanbag chair. "I think I'm going to go to bed, guys." He fumbled for the right words, "And…Ah, I'm sorry about that, Keba." He frowned, "I'll try and talk to him."

Kebakeba nodded slightly, eyes glazed over, then sighed heavily and nestled against Tsuchi's neck again. "It's not your fault…" He whispered wearily, "So don't be sorry. I don't want pity." A pause, "Tsu…We better go back to our room." 

The dark-haired boy nodded, hand once more running across his friend's back. "All right." He agreed, "Good night, Bankotsu."

"Night." Dreading a confrontation, the junior turned back to the door of his bedroom. _Pull yourself together! He's just a little freshmen…There are more guys here who don't care about my personal life than do…He's the only one with a problem with it…And he doesn't even know anyway._ He twisted the doorknob, and entered the room, glaring at Inu Yasha. "You're the most insensitive ass I have _ever_ met." He managed to spit out, folding his arms across his chest, blue gaze boring through the back of the other boy's head.

"Keh." Was the muttered response. Inu Yasha didn't even bother to turn around, just hunched himself further over his keyboard, eyes glued to the glowing computer screen.

Bankotsu sighed, realizing there was no point in pressing the matter. He wandered over to the dresser, searching for a different tee-shirt and a pair of shorts to sleep in. Ignoring Inu Yasha, he switched off the light and crawled into bed, clutching Jakotsu's stuffed snake. Earlier in the afternoon, his roommate had scoffed about the stuffed animal, but the older boy didn't care. He buried his nose in the fabric, trying to catch the lingering scent of his lover as he stared at the wall.

It would be a long time before sleep claimed him.

* * *

"Methods" is the name for the series of classes you take right before student teaching (that's what it's called in the SUNY school system, at least). I don't really know much about it yet, but I will have to go through it…

RaNDoM: Live at JCHS is the first "album" my brother's band put out snicker snicker It was a CD my dad made of their songs from Battle of the Bands and it's crappy. Now they have a good demo CD. So I guess I did that as a little joke…

Mou; I've made Inu-kun into a right little bastard, haven't I? I think I'm writing him like this because he really does act like that at times; like an insensitive clod. And also because people adapt to change in strange ways. Look at me, for example…I went completely haywire when I went away last summer ;;


	4. Chapter 3

"Answer the damn phone!"

Bankotsu awoke the following morning when something soft collided with his head. He had slept fitfully, tossing and turning most of the night, and now the morning sun spilled through the window, warming his skin and forcing him awake against his will. Also dragging him from the uneasy sleep was the incessant ringing of the phone, which had apparently woke Inu Yasha up as well, as the younger boy had thrown a waded-up tee-shirt in Bankotsu's direction.

"All right; all right…" He mumbled, glancing at his clock as he crawled across the bed and reached for the phone. Nine o'clock. He groaned, snatching the receiver from the cradle, rubbing his sleep-bleared eyes. "H'llo?" He yawned into the phone.

"Good morning, sunshine!" Came a cheery voice on the other end, "It took you a long time to answer. Were you asleep?"

"God, yes! Jakotsu, it's nine in the morning!" He slumped down against the wall, feeling a lot less annoyed than he appeared. A small smile played across his lips as he yawned again, "What's up?"

"When I told them you were back, they gave me the day off so I could spend it with you!" The older man gushed, "The people here are so nice! They don't care at all and none of them think it's weird…They were so happy for me! So I'm coming over."

"What, now?" Bankotsu ran a hand through his sleep-tousled bangs, resisting the urge to laugh gleefully. Even though he was still tired, he was alert enough to register the information. He got to spend a whole day with Jakotsu! "I only woke up because Inu Yasha threw a tee-shirt at me since he couldn't reach the phone himself. Gimme some time to get up and dressed and stuff."

"An hour?"

"Fine…" Blue eyes swept across to the other side of the room; Bankotsu gazed at Inu Yasha, who stared back at him. "I'll see you in an hour then."

"All right!" Was the enthusiastic reply, "I love you!"

Bankotsu blushed lightly, twisting the phone cord around his finger. "Yeah, you too." He mumbled into the receiver, "Bye."

"G'bye!"

There was a loud silence as the young man set the receiver back in the cradle. He could feel Inu Yasha's golden gaze burning through him; the freshman's eyes were following his every movement. He frowned slightly, turning fully to face his roommate. "Why are you staring at me?" Sapphire eyes blinked, dark brows knitting together, "Go back to sleep."

"Like I'm supposed to be able to sleep now." Inu Yasha grumbled under his breath as he settled back down, pulling a pillow over his head. He had been sleeping soundly until the fucking phone started ringing, lost in the wonderful, lucid world of dreams, where everything was normal and there weren't two men making out together in the common room. _Shit…I just want to sleep for the rest of the year!_

Bankotsu slid down off his bed, patting barefoot over to dig around in the closet. Towels on the top shelf, shampoo and stuff somewhere else…He pawed around, nearly knocking a plastic cup down on his head. Tossing the towel on his chair and setting the shampoo and conditioner down on top of it, he pulled the elastic out of his braid and began working his way through it with his brush. He was proud of his hair; proud of how long he'd been growing it to be that length, but it was a pain in the ass to take care of, especially in the summer.

He shuffled -half asleep still- down the hall to the bathroom. He paused outside the door; water was running. Not the shower, but one of the two sinks. Better go on ahead.

There was Tsuchi, brushing his teeth, staring absently into the running water. One of his hands was rested against the porcelain counter top, the other held the toothbrush level with his mouth, but he wasn't moving, just staring.

"Tsuchi?" The older boy said softly. He saw the sophomore's shoulders tense, saw him lower the toothbrush. "Are you okay?"

"Why?" The dark, brooding boy didn't turn around. Bankotsu wasn't sure if he even heard the question or not. "Why?" He repeated, louder this time. His shoulders shook, arms bracing him against the counter.

"Why what, Tsuchi?" Bankotsu tipped his head to one side, wavy hair rippling down his back. The young man wasn't making any sense, which was strange. Tsuchi was usually the most serious and sensible of them all, usually the one who played to role of the voice of reason amongst the group.

"Why did he have to make Keba cry?" Tsuchi suddenly whirled around to face Bankotsu, dark hair whipping around his face, "Why Keba of all people? He's already been through so much. He doesn't need shit like that." His grip around the toothbrush tightened and one of his slender eyebrows twitched. "I will not forgive Inu Yasha for that." He muttered lowly.

"It was that bad?"

"Keba hasn't cried like that since the wedding." Inky eyes fell shut, "He wouldn't stop…He…He couldn't…It hurt him so bad."

Bankotsu frowned. If Inu Yasha made Kebakeba cry…It took a lot to get the senior down. "I'm so sorry, Tsuchi…" He bit his lip, "Is he still asleep?" A nod. "When he wakes up, tell him that Jakotsu is coming over. That'll help cheer him up." He smiled weakly, then frowned again, "And, um, why exactly was he crying?" He asked hesitantly. That sort of puzzled him. All of them were used to hearing things like that.

"Because…"

"Keba…Keba, wait! Talk to me, Keba! Don't you dare shut me out." Furious, Tsuchi stormed out of room 123, close behind Kebakeba. His dark hair bounced around his face as he made a grab for his friend's arm, but Keba jerked out of his grasp.

"Leave me alone." He whispered in a small, choked-up voice.

"Please; tell me why you're so angry…It's not just because he said that." The door slammed in his face, but he pushed it open, going into the room and shutting the door behind him. "Keba, tell me!" He demanded.

Keba ignored him, crawling up onto his bed and burying his face in his hands, knees drawn up to his chest. His whole body shuddered and sobs escaped from somewhere deep within him. His brown hair fluffed out, hiding his face, shaking as he cried. Tsuchi paused for a moment, then hoisted himself up on the bed as well, pulling his crying friend into his arms. "Don't cry. What he says doesn't matter." He said quietly.

The older boy continued to sob.

"Please…" Tsuchi forced his friend to look up, fingers brushing the tears off his cheeks. He leaned over, kissing his friend softly, "Don't cry." Arms twined around him; Keba held on for dear life. "Please tell me why it hurts so much." He whispered, lips brushing across Keba's again. The older man shuddered at his touch. He was playing dirty and he knew it, but Keba wouldn't respond to simple questioning or demands.

"It's…" Kebakeba hiccupped, tightening his grip around the younger man, "It's exactly what Ryoku said when she found out…Exactly…She…She didn't understand." He sobbed, "Kiyaku and I thought…She deserved to know my feelings…And she…" He paused, taking a deep breath, gulping back tears, "She told me I was the most disgusting person she ever met. Told me I was terrible…" He buried his face in Tsuchi's chest, sobs muffled by the fabric of his lover's tee-shirt.

"It's not true." Tsuchi whispered into Keba's tousled hair, "It's not true at all." He felt his heart twisting in his chest as tears filled his eyes. "Don't believe it; it's not true…"

"…Then why does it hurt so much?"

Tsuchi stopped talking, pausing to regard Bankotsu. The silence between the two was deafening; the sophomore knew that this whole situation had affected all three boys the previous night. What he'd left out of the story was the way Keba had continued to cling to his desperately, the wallowing in despair, the broken-hearted ramblings of the one who meant most to him. The brown-haired boy had cried long into the night while Tsuchi held him, patiently listening to the choked-out list of regrets and sorrows, until he had worn himself out from sheer exhaustion. And that was how they had stayed the night, lost in the deepness of intimacies other than sex.

"This is a real mess, isn't it?" Bankotsu sighed, "Maybe we'll have to talk to Koga about it…I mean, if shit like that keeps happening…"

"He'll be okay." Tsuchi said calmly.

"He shouldn't have to be 'okay.' It never should have happened in the first place."

No, it shouldn't have." The younger boy nodded, "And it won't happen again. Or I swear, I'll kill him myself." This said, he turned on his heal and marched from the bathroom.

Warm water ran in rivers down Bankotsu's tanned skin and plastered his long hair to his back. He tilted his head up, allowing the water to rush across his face, waking him. The water suddenly chilled -some one had flushed the toilet- and he was suddenly hit with a deluge of memories. _A day; long ago, running in the rain…So chilly…He came looking for me because I took longer than usual._ A wan smile crossed his face. _'You're soaking wet. Are you cold? I could warm you up…' Oh Jakotsu…_He shook his head slightly.

He smiled to himself as he lathered his hair. That morning had lead up to some very interesting events…Pleasant, yet unusual. _Goddammit; I miss him so much! I love him…And now we're apart…This is so difficult._

Once dressed, Bankotsu began toweling off his long hair. There was no way it would be dry anytime soon; but running a towel over it before he bound it back in the braid did help. He hummed to himself quietly as he combed and braided his hair, lyrics to the latest song by Ophidia flitting through his mind.  
_  
_Then he yanked his shoes on, glancing at the clock. _Might as well go wait outside for him…I'm so excited!!_ Grinning to himself, he made his way out of the room, braid slapping against his back and leaving a wet spot on his shirt. He paused in the hallway, poking his head into room 122's common room. Tsuchi was curled up on the couch, a book -which he was obviously not reading- in his hands. "I'm going to wait for Jakotsu outside. Wanna come?" The older boy asked.

Tsuchi looked up; dark gaze lingering on Bankotsu's face, then glanced towards the bedroom door. "I'd rather be here when he wakes up…" He said softly, eyes closing for a moment, then flickering back open, inky gaze once again resting upon the older boy's face.

Bankotsu half-smiled. "I understand." Keba needed Tsuchi. That was perfectly reasonable. Especially considering that the senior had been crying. Bankotsu couldn't picture it…Kebakeba _didn't_ cry. He was too cheerful and tears wouldn't suit him at all. It was unheard of. He had known the education major for a little over a year and had never seen him sad about anything before. "You guys can hang out with us later, if you want. We'll probably go downtown or something."  
  
"Okay."

"See ya."

"Bye."

* * *

It was plenty nice out. Hot; humid; but breezy as well. The campus was nestled snugly between two mountains and there was generally a lot of wind, which came as something of a relief during the summer months. The young man settled himself on the wall in front of the building, aimlessly looking around and taking in his surroundings. _It is good to be back…But nothing is the same now. Even if I am in the same room, with the same people, all the familiarity doesn't make up for the lack of Jakotsu's presence._

He swung his legs, gaze drifting up to the hazy sky. There wasn't a single cloud; the sun was already burning through the morning, warming his face. He smiled slightly. Maybe things would work out with Inu Yasha…Maybe it was just his reaction to going away from home…Maybe in the end…And if it didn't work out, he had several options still. _Don't despair, Bankotsu._ He told himself, _I can always move in with Tsuchi next semester…Keba will be gone student teaching and the room will be open…Or I could move in with Jakotsu…Even though Mom would freak._

That would be fun, living with him…I miss coming back from somewhere and finding him there waiting for me. I miss cuddling with him while we watch movies. I miss dinner time together. And hell yeah I miss the sex…But more than that, I just miss him.

"Hey there, handsome."

"Jakotsu!" The sound of his friend's voice snapped him from his reverie. His blue gaze rose, landing on his friend's pale face. Jakotsu smiled down at him, inky eyes lit with happiness. Clad in denim cut-offs, a white wife beater and flip-flops, the older man looked as if he were headed off to the beach. Bankotsu grinned, rising from his seat on the wall to give his lover a proper greeting.

There was a desperate meeting of mouths; arms tangling around one another. It didn't matter that they had seen one another only the day before or that they were out in the open for all the world to see. All that mattered was that they were together. Bankotsu, after the emotional stress of Inu Yasha's revulsion, simply needed to be around some one who loved him for exactly what he was; some one who could make him feel better about the whole situation. And Jakotsu was being his usual lusty self, descending on his pray, swooping down to devour the shorter man. Whispers of _I love you; I need you; I missed you so much_ hung on the air as the two men embraced.

Bankotsu sighed contentedly into the kiss, leaning forwards, straining to reach up. _This is where I belong…_His arms were around the taller man's neck, their chests pressed together. Jakotsu had one hand up under his shirt, slender fingers teasing up his side; the other hand holding him, tugging him closer, not letting him leave.

The kiss finally ended when they both seemed to realize they would need to breathe sometime in the near future - it was essential to their survival. Bankotsu took a small step back, smiling up at his other half, proud that, for once, he wasn't blushing. Jakotsu grinned, dark eyes sparkling, one finger tracing along the bridge of his companion's nose. "You didn't blush." He teased.

"Nope." Came the smug reply, "I didn't."

"Maybe we're maturing a little bit?"

Blue eyes widened. "Mature? Never!" Bankotsu laughed. He was so relieved, so happy, to see Jakotsu. Nothing could bring him down. Not even a direct attack from Inu Yasha could squelch his good mood.

"You're cheerful today." The older man observed.

"I'm happy to see you. Yesterday was bad, so I'm glad you're here."

"Yesterday was bad? How so?" Jakotsu's head tipped to one side, bangs sliding across his forehead, as he studied his friend's face, "I mean, I know it's been a month since we'd done it, but it couldn't have been _that_ bad. Am I losing my touch?"

At that, Bankotsu's face flushed red. "Not that!" He stammered, "I'm talking about Inu Yasha!"

"What about him?"

"He's a homophobe. He keeps acting like we're all diseased or something. He made Keba cry."

"Keba?"

"Yeah."

"Cried?"

"Yes!"

"Are you sure?"

"That's what Tsuchi said…We were hanging around in the common room yesterday and I guess he thought we were being too loud because we were laughing about something and he came outta the bedroom to yell at us and Keba said something and he said something along the lines of 'gay people are terrible' and Keba got all quiet and left and Tsuchi said he cried." He sighed, "Everything is so fucked up now. We all need you here."

"I'm sorry, kiddo." Jakotsu hugged him again, "But it seems that fate is against us. We have to make the best of this." He ran the back of his hand over Bankotsu's cheek, "It could be worse, right?" He tugged on the boy's bangs, "I mean, I could have had to go away."

"I know." The younger man's gaze dropped to the ground, "But…"

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure things will get better once he gets used to you guys. Now come on." Jakotsu placed a kiss on his companion's forehead, leaving a smudge of lipstick under his bangs, "Let's go inside so I can say hi to everybody." He grabbed Bankotsu's hand, tugging him towards the door.

"Everybody else is still asleep, stupid. It's only ten-thirty." He rubbed at his forehead, only succeeding in further smudging the makeup, then looked up at the other man, "If we go in, there's not much we can do. I know Inu Yasha's still in bed, so no kinky ideas." A slight frown crossed his face.

Jakotsu's forehead creased. "You're no fun." He pouted.

"It's not _my_ fault you called so early." Bankotsu yawned, "I would still be in bed too if you hadn't insisted in coming over right away."

"I just wanted to spend as much time with you as possible. What's wrong with that? Tomorrow, I'll have to work and you'll have to do all that last minute crap getting ready for classes. Neither of us will be free until next weekend." Dark eyes blinked, never leaving the other boy's handsome face.

"I know…But," Another yawn, "I woulda rather stayed in bed longer."

"So what's stopping you? If you can't sleep without me around, we can just go cuddle and you can take a nap. I promise I won't try anything funny." A grin crossed his face, eyebrows rising, and he pulled the shorter man back into his embrace, "I'll be _good_."

"All right. But if you try _anything_ I swear I won't let you do me for a month. Or else," The braided boy threatened, "I get to be on top."

Jakotsu flinched. "I swear! I won't do anything naughty." He held up his hands defensively, "I'll be a perfect gentleman." A smile tugged at his painted lips and his eyes sparkled, "Because there's no way in hell I'm gonna be the woman."

"Yeah; yeah…Come on."

* * *

Inu Yasha awoke later in the morning, sitting up and scratching. He glanced at his digital alarm -it was only eleven-fifteen; why was he up already?- and yawned. He pushed his hair out of his eyes; vision clouded by sleep, and glanced across the room. _Bankotsu went back to bed? I thought he had plans…Thought he was going out. Don't tell me that damn phone call was all for nothing and…_

His train of thought stopped short with movement from the other side of the room. A hand twitched; a hand which ended a slender, pale arm. Said arm was draped across the junior's stomach, hand clutching at the navy blue fabric of Bankotsu's tee-shirt. Bankotsu himself was on his back, mouth slightly open, snoring lightly. His braid snaked across the pillow and one of his legs dangled off the side of the bed. The other occupant of the bed was half-draped across him, pale skin a contrast to the dark sheets and the blue of Bankotsu's jeans.

I'll be damned! The lucky son of a bitch's got a chick. Inu Yasha yawned again, stretching, his back popping in the process. _Guess he's not gay…I owe him an apology._ He rubbed his eyes, flopping back down on the bed with a "whump" and staring at the ceiling. _It's too damn early._

Had he still been paying attention to the couple curled up on the bed, he would have seen a head full of dark hair rise, inky eyes turning in his direction to get a good look at him. Jakotsu shifted silently, peering through his bangs at the blond.

He felt like his heart had stopped in his chest. What a positively adorable boy! Tiny nose, wide golden eyes, that wild tangle of white-blond hair. He appeared to be scowling up at the ceiling -Jakotsu wondered what he was thinking about- but the expression looked surprisingly good on him. He was lean and lithe; supple muscles exposed due to his sleep attire, which consisted only of boxers and a ratty undershirt. A vein in his neck twitched when he swallowed and an overwhelming urge to run his tongue over that vein surged through Jakotsu.

Then he felt Bankotsu shift beneath him and guilt washed over him. _What the hell am I doing, staring at him like that?_ He glanced down at the sleeping form of his lover, taking in the serene expression on his tanned face. _I promised him I would never leave him. I love him. So what am I doing checking out another guy? I'm sorry, Bankotsu…_Keeping his gaze averted from Inu Yasha, he settled back down beside the smaller man…_But he is awfully cute._

Bankotsu rolled over, arms wrapping around Jakotsu, causing the older man to feel even more guilt-ridden. He sighed, frowning lightly, chewing on his bottom lip. A brief infatuation with Inu Yasha would pass, just like it had with all the other cute guys who breezed through his life…Right? But Inu Yasha would always be around; always be a constant presence in his life…How could he avoid the boy if his significant other lived with him?

He stroked Bankotsu's bangs, keeping his gaze averted as Inu Yasha hopped down off his bed and padded out of the room. _I won't look; I won't look; I **won't** look._ He nuzzled his face against Bankotsu's chest, inhaling the zesty smell of his soap. _I love you, but dammit, does your roommate have to be so attractive?_


	5. Chapter 4

Warnings: Lots of talk about the cruelty of homophobes, slight religious fanatic bashing.

* * *

"How's Keba?"

Jakotsu looked lazily up at Tsuchi, who stood in the doorway. The sophomore had poked his head into the room to see if Bankotsu and Jakotsu were there or if Inu Yasha knew where they were if they weren't and had found the two boys curled up on the bed together. Bankotsu was still asleep, clutching one of Jakotsu's arms, but the older man was staring up at the ceiling, apparently lost in thought.

"Bankotsu told you what happened?" Tsuchi asked quietly. He stood over the bed, looking down at Jakotsu, their inky eyes burning together. The younger boy was dressed in his usual dark attire, but he had forgone the hat in favor of a loose ponytail.

"Yeah." A nod.

"He's okay. Just got up. I know he'll be okay…" A small frown crossed Tsuchi's face and he toyed with a stray lock of his hair.

Jakotsu smiled kindly. "I'm sure he'll be fine. It takes a lot more than one little insult to break Keba."

"I suppose." Tsuchi smiled faintly, "So what are your plans for the day? Bankotsu said we could hang out with you guys."

"Yeah; we're not doing much. Probably going downtown later for something to eat. Maybe we can play bad mitten or something." Jakotsu ran a hand through his hair, grinning, "You know I play a mean game and Keba is so much fun to play with."

"I'll see what he says." A pause, "You guys didn't…you know…Did you?" The younger boy blushed lightly, pondering over how they could have possibly with Inu Yasha skulking around.

Jakotsu giggled. "No. He was tired so we took a nap. That's all, you pervert. I did get a good look at Inu Yasha though. He is cute. Keba wasn't kidding."

"Jakotsu…" Tsuchi's eyebrows knit together, "You better not even think about going after him." He said warningly, glancing at the still sleeping junior on the bed, "If you break Bankotsu's heart, you'll regret it. He loves you more than anything, you know."

"I know." The man sighed, "I can't help it though. It's not my fault I'm attracted to him."

"Just don't do anything stupid." The boy turned to leave the room, "Because I don't want any more of my friends living with regrets." He smiled sadly, "I'll see what Keba wants to do today."

"All right." Jakotsu nodded, "See ya later."

"Yup."

Tsuchi left and Jakotsu glanced over at his sleeping boyfriend. Bankotsu was smiling; he looked very happy. _I don't want to hurt you…_He brushed back the younger man's hair, smiling fondly. _I never want to hurt you. I told you that a long time ago, didn't I? Told you that I only want your smiles. And I don't want to…But I know that I'll let you down. I will make you hurt._

And I'm so sorry…

* * *

"You guys wanna go get something to eat with us?"

Kebakeba looked over his shoulder. Bankotsu and Jakotsu were crowded in the doorway of the common room, both looking expectantly at him and Tsuchi. He and the younger boy were sitting on the couch together, watching Maury, he snuggled up against Tsuchi. His hair was damp -he'd just showered- and he was still tired, but the idea of food did sound appealing. "Dining hall?"

"Yeah. They should be serving lunch stuff by now." Bankotsu nodded, "We're not going to go for real food until later."

"Going downtown later?" Keba brightened considerably. He loved excursions to town; to the pet store, the Chinese restaurant, the thrift store and -of course- the book store…"Sounds fun."

A trace of a relieved smile crossed Tsuchi's face. He had been worried that Keba would spend the whole day brooding of Inu Yasha's hurtful comment and the connection he made between Ryoku and Inu Yasha. And Kiyaku…He would dwell on the past and Kiyaku if he wasn't properly distracted. Tsuchi could only provide so much distraction.

"You can come then too." Bankotsu offered kindly. He knew Jakotsu would probably prefer that they spend some time alone, but he also knew that Tsuchi didn't deserve to suffer any more because he didn't know what to do with Keba. It wasn't his fault that bad things had happened to his friend and it wasn't his fault that Keba couldn't let go of the past. "We'll go for Chinese food."

"Really?" Keba grinned, "I can get chicken and broccoli!" He beamed at Bankotsu, then looked excitedly at Tsuchi, before bouncing up off the couch to find his flip-flops. "C'mon, let's go!!"

Tsuchi offered Bankotsu a grateful smile as he rose from the small couch and followed behind his friend. The older boy acknowledged the thanks with a nod, indicating they could talk about it later, then he glanced at Jakotsu, who looked at him questioningly. "Later." He said softly, patting the taller man on the shoulder.

Keba came bounding back out of the bedroom, his pants swishing as he moved. "Everything is so much more fun when you're here, Jakotsu!" He exclaimed, "We actually go out and do things." His hair bounced around his face, which was flushed red, and he shuffled impatiently from foot to foot.

Jakotsu laughed. "You're like a puppy, Keba." One slender hand flicked out and patted the senior on the head, "It's like when you ask a dog if it wants to go for a car ride…"

"Hey!" Keba swatted his hand back, growling mockingly, "I'm no puppy!"

"Are we going to eat or are you guys going to fool around?" Tsuchi asked calmly. Bankotsu was still standing in the doorway, rolling his eyes at the antics of the two oldest boys. "I'm hungry. Let's go."

"Okay!" Keba swished out the door, "Last one there has to kiss Juuroumaru!" He giggled insanely, running down the hall.

More eye rolling from Bankotsu and Tsuchi. Jakotsu just laughed more and scampered off after the brunette. The two still in the room shared a glance. "Looks like he's feeling better." Bankotsu smiled.

"Won't Jakotsu be upset if we tag along for everything? I mean, didn't he want to spend time with just you?" Tsuchi frowned, "I don't want us to get in the way." He pushed back a chunk of hair which had slid from his ponytail, peering intently into Bankotsu's blue eyes.

"It'll be okay." The braided boy insisted, "He worries about Keba too ya know. Now come on…I'm not staying here if it means I have to kiss Juuroumaru!" He grinned, disappearing off after the other two.

Tsuchi sighed, trailing along behind him. It would be an interesting day, to say the least…

* * *

"…So I told him there was no way he would ever do it and he said he would and I said nu-uh and he insisted and I still said 'no' so he did it!" Keba waved his arms around wildly as he spoke as if he was trying to emphasize his point and embellish the story. 

"He jumped?" Jakotsu asked, eyes wide. His dark gaze then swept over to Tsuchi's face, "You jumped??"

Tsuchi nodded solemnly. "Yup."

"Wow."

Bankotsu smiled, laughing to himself at Jakotsu's almost childish fascination with Keba's obviously embellished story. He felt so relaxed and at ease; it was as if he needed Jakotsu around for his life to be routine. It was good to have things back to normal, even if it was only for the day.

The four were crowded into a booth in the dining hall together, swapping stories over soggy french fries and Dr. Pepper. Kebakeba was back to his usual loud self, leaned forwards across the table, speaking animatedly. Tsuchi was slumped down next to him, yawning, dark gaze never leaving the face of his beloved friend. Jakotsu was snuggled up beside Bankotsu, clinging to his arm, smiling happily and laughing at the exaggerated stories of the brunette. Everything was as it had been the previous semester and it felt right.

Suddenly they were distracted by a large crowd moving past them towards the tables by the window. All four boys fell silent, solemnly watching the passing throng; who stared back at them just as seriously, some with disgusted looks on their faces.

"You know," Keba spoke up once they were out of earshot, "I used to be friends with a lot of those people."

Bankotsu looked surprised at this. "You hung out with the Bible thumpers?" He questioned incredulously.

A nod. "My freshman year, I was a part of their little goody-goody club. Back then, it was really fun. I liked it a lot. We got to do all kinds of volunteering things and work with a lot of little kids and all…" He sort of trailed off. Across from him, Jakotsu was nodding in agreement, a small frown on his face. Tsuchi sat beside him, quiet as always, his expression darkened by anger.

"What happened?" The junior boy had heard nothing about this. Since when was Keba religious?

"We had this retreat weekend the beginning of my sophomore year." The story continued, "It was not too long after I started admitting things about myself, only five months or so after I told Kiyaku that I loved him. It was one of those deals where we were supposed to come together and share experiences and come to terms with ourselves and all…I made the mistake of talking about my struggle to accept my sexuality and how I denied it for two years or so. For the rest of the retreat, they avoided me like I had the plague."

Silence. Bankotsu glanced from his friend to the religious fanatics and back again. How could any one do that to Keba? He was the nicest guy. Sure, a little quirky, but fun and outgoing and helpful…Bankotsu looked again at Keba, who smiled sadly.

"It gets worse." The brown-haired boy continued, "At the next meeting, they tried an intervention or some crap like that. Apparently, some of them thought they could 'cure' me and make me 'normal.' So they all started preaching passages from the Bible to me. I insisted that this was how I was and it wouldn't change, but they wouldn't let up. One of them finally told me I was an evil sinner and I would be going to hell for eternity and I decided I didn't deserve any more of their shit." He paused, "I left and I've never looked back."

"That's terrible!" Bankotsu exclaimed, blue eyes wide with horror. "Even if they don't feel the same as you, no one has the right to tell you that!" He felt sick. How could people be so cruel? And to Keba, who never did a thing to anybody in his life. It wasn't fair.

"The club administrator tried to apologize to me, but I wouldn't buy it. Even though only one of them said it, I know it's what they were all thinking. I guess…that was when I stopped considering myself a religious person. I haven't been in a church since then, with the exception of Kiyaku's wedding." He smiled lazily, shrugging, "But I've survived so far."

"I had something like that too…" Jakotsu piped up, "My first roommate, his girlfriend seemed to be under the impression that all gay men check out all other men. She accused me of giving Kenage the once-over. I was insulted…Just because I'm gay doesn't mean I don't have standards." He wrinkled his nose, "Ken wasn't really that cute." A meditative pause followed this statement, "And she never apologized to me for it either."

"Oh, yeah…You pointed them out to me once." Bankotsu nodded, "Neither of them were good looking. And wasn't it something like you saw some other guy check him out and you told the girlfriend and the girlfriend said something like 'how do you know it wasn't really Jakotsu checking you out?' and she thought you didn't hear it?"

"You remember better than I do." Jakotsu smiled proudly, leaning over to kiss Bankotsu on the cheek, "I forgot about that part." He patted his friend on the head, eyes sparkling, and left his arm draped around the younger man's shoulder.

Bankotsu instantly blushed. A year and a half and he still couldn't control himself when Jakotsu was feeling flirty; he was constantly blushing up a storm. Jakotsu grinned down at him and he ducked his head shyly, smiling to himself.

"It happened to me to." Tsuchi said slowly, "In high school."

All eyes were instantly on the sophomore boy. He didn't really talk about things in his past much; only Kebakeba knew what his life had been like before college. Only Keba knew of the uptight parents and the close-minded little town. Only Keba knew of the struggles, the hatred, the anger. And only Keba -who loved another man more- knew how to make everything seem less hopeless.

"Because I was open-minded and they were not, every one assumed I was gay. Back then, I considered myself to be nothing but straight -I'd had a couple girlfriends- but every one for some reason thought I was a…how did they put it?" He paused for a moment in silent contemplation, "…A fairy. I got called that all the time. I had things put in my locker. Taped to my locker. My art projects got vandalized. They trashed my car…Spray painted things on our garage door. I even got beat up. My parents were so angry. 'No son of theirs was a fag' they said. I hate them anyway, so when I came here, I was never planning on going back. It didn't matter after I was with Keba…They would have kicked me out anyway. I called them from his house Christmas morning and gave them a gift…Told them I was bisexual, in a relationship with a man and that they finally, totally pushed me away, just like they always wanted."

Bankotsu felt numb. Never when he got involved with Jakotsu had he imagined so many terrible things. He had forgot to factor in much of the torment that comes with homophobia, from extremely cruel remarks like Inu Yasha's to actual, physical abuse. To that day, he had only received a few small comments and jokes from his homophobic friends back home who knew nothing about his illicit affair with his former roommate. He couldn't imagine in his wildest dreams being beaten just for loving some one.

But then, the braided boy came from a good, loving family.

Keba had a hand rested supportively on Tsuchi's shoulder, but his brown gaze had drifted over to Bankotsu. Even though the junior had been mixed up with them for quite some time, he really had no clue what he had gotten himself into. He looked terrified and angry and ill all at once.

Jakotsu snuggled him closer, lips grazing across his forehead. "Cheer up, kiddo. If any one messes with you, they mess with me too. We're all in this together."

There was an awkward silence for a moment, then Keba's face brightened again. "Hey, did I tell you guys about when we went to that amusement park?" He chirped excitedly.

The other three smiled faintly, glad for a distraction. Keba was good at acting as if nothing was wrong and getting other people to feel the same way. That was why it had been so unnerving for all of them to think about him crying. But he had bounced back easily and they all settled back into the comfortable atmosphere as Keba launched into another outrageous tale.

* * *

"Are you okay?" 

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"You're being awfully quiet. And you're avoiding my question by asking your own question. That's a good sign that something is bothering you."

Bankotsu sighed as if the weight of the world was on his shoulders and Jakotsu looked at him pointedly.

"See?" The older man accused, "Something is too wrong! Now tell me!"

"Does it matter?" The shorter man grumbled, throwing himself down on the sofa. He kicked off his shoes, flipping on the TV, his back to the older man, who stood behind the couch.

"Of course it matters!" Jakotsu stormed across the room, standing in front of his boyfriend, hands on his hips. "I love you! It matters!" He peered down at Bankotsu, brow furrowed, "Please? Tell me what's wrong."

"You love me. That's what's wrong." The blue-eyed boy mumbled miserably, "And I love you." He pulled a pillow into his lap, hugging it to his chest. "That's the fucking problem."

"Bankotsu…" The older man sank down beside him, looking at him sadly. His arm snaked around, pulling him close, pillow and all, and he rested his head on the young man's shoulder. Sometimes it was easy to forget how much all of this homophobia stuff got to Bankotsu; Jakotsu had been dealing with it since he was fourteen. He was used to it by then. "It's only a problem if you let it be one. You care too much what everybody else thinks."

"I don't want people to hate me because I happen to love you." Bankotsu stared at his socks, twisting the pillowcase around in his hands.

Jakotsu's fingers ran across his cheek; soft, cool, gentle. "If people don't hate you because you love me, they'll hate you for some other reason. There are always people who hate you and think whatever they want to think. And in the end, we all die. So what's the use of worrying about it?"

Blue eyes rose to meet gray. "I can't help it." Came the quiet response, "Why can't people just mind their own business? Why does it matter that we're both men? Is it really so wrong? Why is loving you wrong?" His eyes welled with tears.

Strong arms wrapped around him, pulling him closer. He buried his face in the front of Jakotsu's shirt, trying to keep from crying. "It's not wrong." Came the whispered reply. Jakotsu was rubbing his back soothingly, hands moving in slow circles, fingers massaging through the tee-shirt. "It could never be wrong when it feels so right."

"I love you." Bankotsu's voice was muffled by his companion's chest, "But I will never understand why people see it as a bad thing or why people need to be so fucking stupid about it."

"I know it's hard to understand. Especially when you're not used to being hated…But hey, like I said before, any one who wants to fuck with you has to go through me first." The effeminate man spoke into his companion's hair, "You're far from being alone in this."

"Thank you Jakotsu." The younger boy pulled back slightly, lifting his head to look up at his friend. He smiled faintly, blue eyes speaking volumes of both his concern and devotion. "I guess…" A pause, "I guess it's just going to be harder to deal with this year because you won't always be here by my side. It doesn't seem as bad when we're together."

"Ah, I'd stay if I could, you know." Jakotsu grinned, "I'd just stay here, waiting for you in bed all day. Put my satin sheets on the bed, stash a bottle of plum wine in the little fridge…I could greet you each night with-"

"Jakotsu!" Furious blushing ensued at this train of thought, "Why do you always have to make everything seem so dirty?"

Another wide grin. "You know you like it. The taller boy ducked down, capturing his lover's mouth with his. "You wouldn't change me for the world." He whispered into the kiss.

Bankotsu nodded slightly, arms wrapping around possessively, pulling their bodies closer together. He flopped backwards down on the couch, Jakotsu sprawled on top of him. "Hello there, little boy." Jakotsu breathed softly, eyes wide and teasing, as he leaned in for another kiss, "Hello." Mouths couldn't get enough; they were so hungry for one another. Bankotsu twitched beneath him. He could feel the younger man trembling in anticipation, hands clutching at the fabric of the small couch. Wide blue eyes, shimmering with unshed tears; he was begging silently, those eyes pleading with him.

Jakotsu smiled dangerously, inky eyes glinting. _This is where it gets good…_

A hand down Bankotsu's pants; a hand down his own. He's about to begin working them both when-

"Oh. My. God."

Beneath him, Bankotsu paled significantly. Jakotsu's head jerked up and he froze, hands exactly where he left them.

Standing in the doorway, Inu Yasha looked as if he were about to die.

* * *

Bwah ha ha! Evil cliffhanger!!! {dances a paganistic ritual dance} I don't know what I'm going to do next {laughs evilly} so y'all are going to have to wait and see!! {cackles} I'm feeling very evil today.


	6. Chapter 5

To Des: I know I did Inu a tad bit OOC…But as this is AU, I'm allowed to take a few creative liberties. Thanks for reading though! =)

* * *

It was one of those moments were time stopped.

Inu Yasha stood frozen in the doorway, golden eyes wide with shock. He couldn't move; couldn't think; couldn't breathe. There was Bankotsu, pinned to the couch by the extremely fruity looking man from the pictures. It was bad enough that he was on top of Bankotsu, but to make matters worse, he had a hand down each of their pants and it looked like he was about to…

About to…

He couldn't stop gaping. His brain was pounding against his thick skull, screaming shrilly, trying to think of some other explanation for what was happening on that couch. This couldn't be happening…This _could not_ be happening! Goddammit; it was NOT -- _This means Bankotsu IS gay!!!_

Bankotsu felt as if he was about to vomit. He wanted the ground to open and swallow him up. He wanted the couch to spontaneously burst into flames and roast him alive. He wanted the dorm to blow up with no survivors. _Anything_ would be better than this. He could feel sweat trickling down his face; his heart was racing wildly. _Dear God, let me die…_

Suddenly, Jakotsu's fingers twitched, brushing against him. He bit his lip, willing his body to be cooperative and not decide this was exciting and arousing. "Jakotsu…" The name died on his lips, coming out as nothing more than a dead whisper. He wasn't going to…Was he? Not now; not with Inu Yasha in the doorway…He wouldn't dare…

Jakotsu's fingers twitched again. A sudden, overwhelming desire to laugh washed over Bankotsu. What an incredibly _funny_ situation this was! There could have been no better way for Inu Yasha to discover he was in a relationship with a man. Well, with the exception of the freshman walking in and catching them in the middle of sex, at least. But there they were, he with the love of his life pinning him to the couch, on the verge of giving him a hand job, and the biggest homophobe on campus staring at the both of them. It was an almost laughable situation, one which, ten years from now, could be looked upon with hysterics rather than mortification.

Jakotsu couldn't tear his eyes away from the rigid figure in the door. "Beautiful…" The word came out a strangled whisper. His lips parted slightly, his lusty gaze never leaving the younger man's face. Those golden eyes, wide with fright…Beautiful. Fear was such a turn-on and it had been a long time since there had been fear. Bankotsu wasn't afraid any more. But Inu Yasha…sheer terror was written across his face. It didn't matter that there was underlying disgust, the fear was there plainly for all to see and it was positively _thrilling_.

Dark eyes flashed and fell shut for a moment, opening and continuing to stare at the boy in the doorway, lidded with desire, speaking volumes for their owner. Inu Yasha found himself still unable to move, even though he wanted desperately to shriek in terror and claw his eyes out. Jakotsu licked his lips as he continued to watch the blond. The puppy was so innocent…So naïve…So much like his lover had been when they met. Well, he liked a challenge. He could break him as well. All he needed was the chance…

Beneath him, Bankotsu seemed to regain his senses. He struggled violently, his voice hoarse as he screamed for the older man to stop, even though his protests were becoming more unwilling by the second. His voice caught in his throat and came out a strangled sob of "Jakotsu…stop…please…" followed by some whimpering and moaning.

Finally breaking his gaze with Inu Yasha, Jakotsu looked down for a moment to reassure the squirming man beneath him. It was then that he noticed the tears streaking down Bankotsu's face, the look of panic in his eyes, and he felt his heart wrench. _What the hell am I doing? What's wrong with me? I wanted to make him feel better, not make him cry…_

All but forgotten, Inu Yasha watched dumbly as the willowy man bent over the boy on the couch, gently brushing away his tears, apologizing profusely, begging forgiveness he didn't even deserve. Bankotsu seemed to be calming down, but he was blushing furiously, his face turned away as he stared silently into the back of the couch. Jakotsu was caressing his cheek, trying to get him to move, repeating over and over again how sorry he was.

Reality suddenly seemed to hit. Inu Yasha felt like he would be violently ill as he stumbled out of the room, trying to expel that horrid sight from his mind. It wasn't going to go away; the sight of his roommate there on the couch would be forever tattooed in his mind.

He ran down the hall, out the doors, into the hazy sunlight of the summer afternoon. There was nowhere he could go, nothing he could do, that would soften the awful truth. He was living with a disgusting, perverted man. Said man's…boyfriend -just thinking that made his skin crawl- was about to get off while staring…at…him. He felt the bile rising in his throat and forced himself not to throw up.

Leaning heavily against the wall, he cast golden eyes up to the cloud-free sky, trying desperately to catch his breath. _Why me? Dear God, why me?_

_

* * *

_

Bankotsu couldn't stop crying.

He'd curled up in a little ball on the couch, sniffling and hiccupping. Jakotsu hovered over him, apologizing over and over, trying to get him to say something. "Please, I'm sorry…I never, ever meant to do that…Please listen. Goddammit; I'm sorry!" Jakotsu was pacing; it sounded like he was trying to keep himself from crying, "I should have stopped, I know…But I couldn't help it! I'm so, so sorry, Bankotsu!"

"Why?" Bankotsu's braid quivered as he spoke, voice shaky and muffled by the sofa cushion, "Why? Is he…that attractive?"

"Bankotsu…" The couch shifted as Jakotsu sat on the edge of it. He rested a hand on the boy's shoulder, but drew it back when the boy flinched. Then he sniffled, his resolve breaking and tears trickling down his cheeks. "I don't know why!" He choked out, "I didn't want to…I just…did. I know it's no excuse and you have every right to hate me for it, but I never wanted to hurt you." He sniffled, staring at the other man's back, then down at his hands, "I just…I just…I don't know why…" His head bowed, defeated.

For a moment, there was a heavy, oppressive silence. Then Bankotsu turned slightly, looking up at his forlorn lover. "I don't hate you." He said quietly. "I could never hate you. I just hate the way you are sometimes." He gulped back the last of his tears, pushing himself up into a sitting position. "I don't want to share you. I don't want to think about you liking him…"

"I'm really sorry…" Jakotsu sniffled, still staring at his hands in his lap, "I don't know what came over me."

"It's…it's okay." Came the hesitant reply, "Just don't do it again." Bankotsu's hand closed over Jakotsu's, squeezing it softly. "Because I won't be so forgiving next time." He grinned up at the taller man.

Jakotsu looked down at him in wonder, dark eyes still shimmering with tears. Then he broke into a smile, taking his companion's face in his hands. "Shit, I love you." He ducked down to kiss the shorter man, "And don't you ever forget it." His lips moved up to Bankotsu's nose, then his forehead, before roaming back down to claim his mouth again. "Even if my eyes stray…My heart always leads back to you."

Bankotsu snuggled against his chest, reveling in the sweet words pouring from his boyfriend's lips. "I love you too." He whispered, sighing contentedly, burying his face in the other man's shirt. "Don't ever do _anything _like that again."

"I'll try."

"Try?"

"I can't promise." Jakotsu stroked his companion's braid, "Because I never want to break a promise to you. And sometimes…Sometimes I lose control. Sometimes I do things without thinking…like before…and I don't want to hurt you because I broke a promise."

"I understand." He didn't like it, but he did understand. There were things about Jakotsu that would always be…well, Jakotsu. "I understand." He repeated, wrapping his arms around the other man and burying his face in his neck, "I love you. Of course I understand." He kissed Jakotsu's pale, slender neck, then ran his tongue across his throat, causing the other man to shiver with pleasure. "I don't need to worry because I'm not letting you get away that easily."

"Maybe…" Jakotsu breathed, "Maybe we should go into the other room…And lock the door…" He smirked and Bankotsu laughed, "So we aren't interrupted again."

"Yes," Came the teasing reply, "Maybe we should."

* * *

The bus comes by every half hour on the quarter hour. 

By five-ten, four young men were assembled together at the bus stop, all of them looking a bit happier than they had earlier in the day. Bankotsu seemed to have gotten over his shyness and was tightly clutching Jakotsu's hand in his. He blushed lightly, but held his head high, his claim on the other man evident, to which Jakotsu grinned. Kebakeba was bouncing excitedly, periodically losing one flip-flop or the other, and chatting up a storm as they waited for the bus. Tsuchi stood beside him, smiling gently, pleased that his companion was back to normal.

"I'm so excited! I haven't been to town since last spring!" Keba beamed, wriggling excitedly, "And I haven't had Chinese in just as long! We hardly get it at home. Aren't you excited, Tsu?" He grabbed his friend's hand, swinging it back and forth, grinning like the Cheshire cat.

"I'm happy that you're happy." Came Tsuchi's mild reply. He was relieved to see Keba smiling and exuberant once more; it was unnerving when the older boy got down in the dumps.

"You guys look happy too." The bouncy senior's chocolate gaze swung around to rest upon the other couple, "You did it before, didn't you?"

"Keba!" Tsuchi's eyes widened and he blushed deeply, mortified at his friend's forwardness.

"What?" What's the big deal? We did too." Keba grinned, to which his dark-haired companion's blush deepened. His eyes sparkled, "Don't be so shy, honey. Everybody already knows anyway."

Bankotsu was also blushing up a storm, his face as red as a tomato. Jakotsu, on the other hand, looked mildly amused by the whole situation; the two younger men flustered and embarrassed, the older two unruffled by the topic of discussion. "As long as we're discussing it…" Jakotsu smirked as Bankotsu began tugging at his hand and telling him to shut up, "We fooled around, but no sex." He grinned broadly, tossing an arm around his companion and planting a kiss on the top of his head, "That's for later."

Bankotsu looked ready to burst into flames. Tsuchi looked just as flustered. The two older men laughed gleefully, teasing their respective boyfriends until the bus arrived.

Keba instantly bounded on to the bus, briefly flashing his SAC card on the way by the driver. Tsuchi followed him, glaring at the few passengers who dared to give the flamboyant senior disgusted or dirty looks. The brunette seemed to be blissfully unaware of this as he made his way to the back of the bus, but the expressions on these people's faces weren't lost on Bankotsu as he trailed behind the dysfunctional couple. _How can these people…_Then he seemed to realize they were glaring at him as well and his anger flared.

Jakotsu seemed to notice as he tensed and he patted him on the back reassuringly. "Don't worry, kiddo." He whispered, "I won't let the big, bad homophobes get you."

Bankotsu snorted at this, settling himself into one of the back seats near Tsuchi, who had Keba clinging to his arm. The sophomore was still glaring at the other students on the bus; his expression seemed to be daring them to say something. "You're so protective of him." The braided boy commented softy.

A light smile graced Tsuchi's lips as he glanced up from the cuddly senior. "Yes, well, he's protective of me as well, in his own little way." His voice was quite, but there was a fondness in his eyes as he spoke of the brown-haired man.

Bankotsu smiled in return, nodding his agreement. For as long as he had known the couple, it had been evident that they cared deeply for one another. Keba might have been one for joking and flirting, but he loved Tsuchi ceaselessly. And he was all that Tsuchi had. Without each other, they were nothing and had nothing.

"Hey, how about you pay attention to me?" Jakotsu's hand tickled across the back of his friend's neck, causing Bankotsu to squirm and giggle. He settled back into the taller man's embrace, resting his head on Jakotsu's shoulder and looking around the bus.

There was the usual multitude of students; punks, preps, skaters, kids dressed nicely, kids in sports uniforms and then…"See those two over there?" Bankotsu pointed at a couple a few rows up. The guy was leaned casually back in the seat, his arm snaking around the girl's shoulders. She frowned lightly, swatting his hand away, her long, dark ponytail bouncing.

"What about them?" Jakotsu yawned lightly, pulling the shorter man closer and burying his face in his hair.

"They're friends with Inu Yasha. He introduced me to them at the picnic, but I don't remember their names. The guy was just about to ask me if I knew any hot chicks when Inu Yasha started freaking out about Keba kissing Tsuchi."

Jakotsu's inky gaze came to rest on the two freshmen. The girl was whispering loudly to the guy about how much of a pervert he was and he was grinning sheepishly. "He's not bad looking, you know." He commented offhandedly.

"Don't start with me." Bankotsu growled, "I'm not in the mood."

"Don't get all bent out of shape…He could never be as hot as you. Nobody could ever be as hot as you." He buried his nose in Bankotsu's hair, "So just chill."

The younger man blushed copiously. "We're in public, you know." He mumbled, dropping his gaze to the floor.

"It's okay. Don't worry. You're like a shy little girl, kiddo." Jakotsu teased, tugging on Bankotsu's braid, kissing him softly on the cheek, "It doesn't matter what any of those close-minded idiots think. It just matters that I love you."

"Awww!" Keba squealed, effectively ruining their "moment." He was draped across Tsuchi, his cheeks pink and his brown eyes sparkly. "You guys are soooo cute together!" He purred, "I'm way jealous. Why can't you be like that, Tsu?"

The boy in question blushed delicately, dark eyes closing for a moment as he pushed his friend off him, grumbling slightly. He suddenly looked very old and very tired. It wasn't odd to see Tsuchi with dark circles under his eyes, but for some reason, he momentarily looked as if he transcended time itself. "This isn't the place, Keba." He muttered under his breath.

Keba let out a dramatic sigh. "With you, it's _never_ the place." He pouted, slumping back into his seat.

"People are already giving you funny looks. _Please _don't make a big thing out of this." Tsuchi retorted, turning to stare out the window.

The other two boys watched curiously. Seeing Tsuchi moody wasn't unusual in itself, but the source of his aggravation was. He might get flustered and embarrassed or depressed because of Keba, but they had never seen him annoyed with him. He was usually extremely patient when it came to Keba. Bankotsu wondered if it had something to do with the fact that the wedding had been that summer and it had affected them both. He felt sorry for Keba, not able to be with his first love, but he felt more sorry for Tsuchi, who had to deal with the emotional problems resulting from Keba's predicament. It really wasn't fair to either of them.

The four were silent for the rest of the bus ride. Tsuchi continued to stare out the window, aimlessly watching the world go by, while Kebakeba sulked. Jakotsu kept tugging on Bankotsu's braid, but the young man was absorbed in his thoughts and didn't pay much attention.

Dinner was fun, but Bankotsu was still distracted. No matter where his mind wandered, it always focused back on one thought: _How the hell do I explain **that** to Inu Yasha??_

_

* * *

_

"Bankotsu?"

Said man jumped at the sound of Jakotsu's questioning voice. The two had been sitting in the grass behind the wall for an hour or so, watching as it got dark and students passed by. Jakotsu was absorbed in his people watching and had failed to notice his companion's distractedness. Bankotsu was sitting beside him, twitchy and nervous, pondering over what he was going to say the next time he encountered his disgruntled roommate.

"What?" The younger man twitched visibly, turning his sapphire gaze to his friend's face.

"Are you okay? You're staring off into space." The older man's slender fingers teased through Bankotsu's bangs and he smiled down at him.

"I…" Bankotsu looked away, staring at some spot on the dorm wall, fiddling with a blade of grass, "Jakotsu, what am I supposed to tell Inu Yasha? How can I even _look_ at him now? What the hell am I supposed to do?"

A frown crossed the other man's face and he lowered his inky gaze, staring down at his feet. "I'm so sorry." He said softly, "I never wanted anything like this to happen. I've made your life hell, haven't I?"

"It's not your fault." The smaller man looked back up, blue eyes meeting Jakotsu's dark ones. "I choose this for myself, after all. I didn't have to live like this…I could have pushed you away. But I didn't want to." He paused, smiling faintly, "And now I've got a little situation. What am I supposed to say to him?"

"Why do you have to say anything? You don't owe him any explanations. If he asks, it's really none of his business. What you and I do together is nobody's business but ours."

"It's not really that easy, you know." Bankotsu frowned lightly, "What if he presses the issue? He seems pretty dense, but I don't think he'll let it go so easily. I mean, you _were_ about to…" He trailed off, leaving the end of the sentence unspoken.

Jakotsu smirked. "I was about to _what_?" The words spilled over his lips, low, melodic and sing-song as he lowered his eyelids, gazing at his then-blushing companion.

His cheeks flaming, Bankotsu mumbled something incomprehensible, clutching a fistful of the somewhat long grass and crumpling it between his fingers. Then he looked back up, steeling his gaze, his mouth forming a firm line on his tanned face. "You shouldn't be cracking jokes about this. It's not funny. I'm the one who has to live with him for the next four months, remember?"

"I'd live with him if I could. He's hot!"

This earned the older man a death glare. "Why do you insist on telling me other guys are hot?" Bankotsu asked in a huff, folding his arms and continuing to glower. "Aren't I supposed to be the one you love? Why do you say shit like that?" His brow furrowed, "Sometimes, you don't act like you love me and I put a lot on the line to be with you. When are you going to cut the crap?" Not bothering to wait for an answer, he rose to his feet, leaving Jakotsu sitting in the grass, and stalked away.

Jakotsu sat there for a moment, blinking. Then it seemed to dawn on him…Bankotsu was mad.

Very mad.

* * *

Blah…This chapter took me forever to write…Nearly ten days =.= And I don't even really like anything about it {rolls over and sleeps} I'm losing my touch, me.

Oh, and a SAC (Student Activity Card) card is a little piece of paper we have to buy. It allows us to ride the bus free and get into on-campus activities either free or for cheap prices.


	7. Chapter 6

Bankotsu fumbled to open the door to the dorm, swiping his ID over the keypad. In his hurried attempt to unlock it, it took him several attempts, several frustrated swipes of the card and numerous curses and rants.

He half expected Jakotsu to grab him from behind, so long was he taking to get the stupid door to open. But there was no sign that the older man had followed him, no sign of Jakotsu at all. That hurt him almost as much as what his friend was emotionally doing to him. _Damn him! He doesn't care! He's going to destroy me with all this and. He. Doesn't. Care._

Finally succeeding in yanking to door open, he stormed down the hall, and, finding the door unlocked, barged into the common room.

Naraku looked up from his computer desk. "Fighting already, are we?" He questioned, noticing the furious expression on Bankotsu's face. "Didn't I tell you it would happen?"

"Shut the fuck up." The braided boy retreated into the bedroom, slamming the door behind him.

He flopped down on his bed, pointedly ignoring the curious stare of Inu Yasha, and buried his face in his pillow. _I'm not going to cry over this…I'm NOT going to cry over this…I'm not; I'm not; I'm not!_

He was acutely aware of Inu Yasha's scrutinizing gaze as he shifted and stared at the wall. Let the little punk stare all he wanted; this was his fault in the first place. If Inu Yasha wasn't a homophobe…If Inu Yasha wasn't his roommate…If Inu Yasha didn't exist…There would be absolutely _no_ problem.

"What's wrong with you?" The blond asked tentatively. His skin was still crawling at the thought of what had been going on in the common room, but Bankotsu looked like he was either about to be violently ill or destroy something.

"None of your business." Came the muffled reply. _Only that I want to kill you so I don't have to worry about my boyfriend going after you._

"Keh." Inu Yasha shifted on his bed, golden gaze never leaving his roommate's back. "You wanna explain what you were doing before?"

"That's also none of your business."

"You're gay aren't you?" Came the next accusing question.

Bankotsu sat up, whipping around to face the younger man, blue eyes wide with anger. "I am NOT gay." He shouted, "Why does every one keep saying that??"

"Maybe because he had his hand down your pants?"

"He'd stick his hand down your pants too if he had the chance!" Bankotsu roared, eyes welling with tears. "You want to know what my fucking problem is? Do ya?!"

"…" Inu Yasha's eyes were so wide at this point they threatened to consume his face, and he scooted back on his bed, his back up against the wall. "No…That's…okay…" He finally managed.

Suddenly exhausted, Bankotsu slumped down on the bed. "Look, I'm sorry. None of this is your fault anyway. You can't help it if he likes you. I'm going to bed. If he comes looking for me, tell him I need some time to cool down."

" 'Kay."

"Night."

"G'night." Somewhat bewildered, Inu Yasha clambered down off his bed and padded out of the room. Why was Bankotsu going to bed at nine-thirty? And what was he so worked up about anyway? Maybe he wasn't gay…Maybe that Jakotsu guy was trying to pull some shit with him that he didn't even want…Yeah, that was a reasonable explanation.

"Wow, he's really angry, isn't he?"

The freshman's head snapped up at the sound of Naraku's voice. He leveled the senior a glare -already they didn't like one another- his arms folding across his chest. "Keh."

"You do know why he's so upset, don't you?" The kinky-haired man asked, a slow smile spreading across his face.

Inu Yasha continued to glares at him suspiciously.

"Jakotsu has a huge crush on you, puppy." Naraku smirked, fingers toying with a lock of his wavy hair, "And the fruit fly is jealous. Really jealous. I heard him yelling about how he's not gay…I suppose that could be true. But Jakotsu is 'special' to him, in any case, and our flamboyant little friend has got the hots for _you_. Understand?"

Inu Yasha paled significantly. "That _freak_ has a thing for me?!" He yelped in disgust.

The senior nodded smugly, leaning back further in his seat. "Big time."

Inu Yasha struggled to keep himself composed. This just went from bad to worse.

* * *

It seemed that Bankotsu had unplugged the phone.

Jakotsu stood between the double set of doors, dialing the room number over and over, all to no avail. It rang continuously with no answer before it crossed his mind that maybe -just maybe- he should try dialing Keba and Tsuchi instead. He had no way to get into the building without some one opening the door for him; his ID card was no longer active since he had graduated.

Kebakeba answered on the fourth ring, sounding slightly harried and breathless. He listened to Jakotsu's rushed explanation then promised he would be right down to let the older man in.

Jakotsu paced back and forth between the doors. It felt like it was taking Keba forever to walk the hundred or so feet down the hall. Finally the brunet appeared. Finally the door was opened and Jakotsu all but ran down the hall, Keba trailing behind him.

He was just about to open the door to 123's common room when it flew open and he found himself face-to-face with Inu Yasha.

The freshman stiffened, golden eyes narrowing down and a frown crossing his face. "You'd better get out of here, freak. He doesn't want to see you."

Jakotsu frowned slightly, staring down at the blond, dark eyes full of question.

"Go away, psycho." Inu Yasha insisted, his voice slightly tense, "Get lost. He told me to tell you to go away."

The black-haired man's brow furrowed and his frown deepened. _He's really mad at me…Crap…Crap; crap; CRAP! I'm such an idiot._

Inu Yasha brushed past him out the door, pulling it shut behind him and leaving Jakotsu standing there in the hall.

"Hey man, you okay?" Keba wandered back down the hall, twisting the top off a bottle of vanilla Coke. He tipped his head to the side, studying Jakotsu, taking in his confused expression, before taking a swig of the soft drink.

"Shit…" Jakotsu muttered, his face twisting into a frown. "He's really mad at me." His eyebrows twitched, "And he won't even let me in." His head lowered, inky eyes diverted to the floor.

Keba smiled sadly. "Come on in. Let's talk." He offered kindly.

Tsuchi gave the two a funny look as Keba led Jakotsu into the bedroom. He was used to his boyfriend hanging out with the older man, but they usually just hung around in the common room. The sophomore rose to his feet and followed after the other two, stopping in the doorway and leaning against the doorframe, curious as to what was going on.

"What did you do, Jakotsu?" Keba sat cross-legged on his bed, leaning back against his favorite pillow, his stuffed wolf in his lap.

Jakotsu sighed, climbing up on to the bed beside the brown-haired senior and slumping down against him. "I said that I think Inu Yasha is hot and he stormed off. He accused me of not loving him. He said I don't act like I do. And I love him more than anything…" He trailed off miserably.

Tsuchi, from his spot in the doorway, watched curiously as Keba patted Jakotsu on the shoulder. "In the year and a half you two have been together, you've never seriously gone after any one else, have you?" The brunet asked softly.

"Of course not!" Jakotsu looked scandalized, "Why would I?"

"Then why now? What is the fascination with Inu Yasha? He feels threatened, you know. Poor Bankotsu already has to deal with you being gone and now you start lusting after his roommate? Give the guy a break."

"I can't help it any more than you can help loving Kiyaku still." The older man replied slowly, "You don't want to love him, but you do anyway, even though you know you're hurting Tsuchi." He glanced at the boy in the doorway, then brought his gaze back to Keba's. "I don't want to hurt him. I love him."

"Jakotsu, you _are _hurting him. Whether you want to or not, you _are_." The brunet accused, "You've got to cut out this shit or you might lose him."

Jakotsu looked away, staring at a Juppon Gatana poster on the wall. "Maybe I should just end it with him." He sighed, "It might be better for us both that way. I've made such a mess out of his life…"

"And breaking up with him won't make it worse?" Keba snorted, "He loves you. You'd kill him if you broke up with him. You'd destroy him. You don't want to do that anyway; you feel too strongly for him." He ran a hand through his hair and pulled off his reading glasses, "Besides, if you broke up with him, I would kill you. You guys are meant for each other and I'm not going to watch two of my friends through away something good because they're being stupid."

"Well I can't do anything if he stays mad anyway." Jakotsu scrunched up on the bed, hugging one of Keba's pillows. "We've never fought before." He muttered, "Not over anything important at least."

"He won't stay mad." Keba insisted, leaning over the older man, brown eyes glinting, "You'll make up soon enough." He ran one finger across Jakotsu's cheek, then leaned over and kissed his forehead. "Now go home and quite worrying."

Both Jakotsu and Tsuchi gave him odd looks. Keba had a habit of behaving strangely, but he had never before kissed any one besides Tsuchi and the girl he'd dated for two weeks in his freshman year. The sophomore frowned lightly, quirking an eyebrow as his eyes met Keba's. The brunet simply gave him a look, silencing any questions before they arose. "Don't worry, honey." He flashed his boyfriend a smile, "I've got more than enough love to go around." He blew the younger man a kiss, then looked back down at Jakotsu.

"Look, things will get better. We've only been back for two days. Give him some time to settle back down, okay? He's not used to you not being around, he's not used to Inu Yasha being here, he's not used to you being attracted to any one but him. I think that it's going to be good for you guys to have some time apart. You spend way too much time together."

"Not any more…" The dark haired man rolled over on his side, breaking his gaze with Keba.

"Jakotsu, if things don't get any better, have him move in with you in your apartment next semester. Then you won't be apart, he won't have to pay rooming fees and you won't see Inu Yasha nearly as much. It would be better for everybody that way."

"His parents would never allow that."

"He's an adult! They can't stop him. They aren't paying his tuition anyway, so what does he need them for?"

"His parents are nice, Keba. They're really nice and treat me kindly, even knowing that I only like men. But I know they don't like me being around him too much because they don't want him to turn out like me." A strangled laugh left his throat as he continued staring at the poster on the wall, "If they only knew…They would hate me. I think they already suspect something is going on, that I like him as more than a friend, but he's pretty good at hiding it. If he moved in with me…I don't think it would be good for his family."

"But what about what's good for you? His family should love him regardless of whom he loves."

Jakotsu twisted around, looking back up. "You know, you're really good at giving advice that you can't follow. Your parents know nothing about how much you suffered at the wedding and they don't know anything about you and Tsuchi. Why don't you practice what you preach, Keba?"

"My parents would slaughter me. You know they're into all that religious bunk. My mom couldn't even understand why I wanted to meet some one I met online. She doesn't understand anything. If I told her that Tsu and I are a couple, she would flip out. It's not going to happen until it has to." He concluded, shaking his head and causing his hair to bounce.

Jakotsu looked at him evenly, dark eyes full of criticism and curiosity. There was still much about Keba he had yet to learn; much the brown-haired man kept hidden. Tsuchi, he knew, was the only one who knew all the little secrets, but there was no use questioning him. All the details were apparently on a need-to-know basis and it was rare for a gap to be filled in.

"Go home. Get some sleep. Sitting around and brooding isn't going to help the situation. All of us are emotionally messed up after being apart for the summer. If you stay on my bed looking vulnerable, I might have to ravish you."

"Keba!" Tsuchi looked scandalized.

"I'm only kidding! Lighten up." The boisterous senior sat on the edge of the bed, stretching his arms over his head, "But I am serious about you going home, Jakotsu. Give Bankotsu some time to cool off and call him tomorrow. I think he's mad at you now, but it won't seem so bad once he has a little time to chill."

"I suppose you're right." Jakotsu sat up, fixing his hair and yawning. "I'll see you guys some other time." He slid off the bed, "And thanks for listening to me bitch."

"That's what friends are for." Keba dismissed him with the wave of a hand, "See ya."

"Bye." Jakotsu wandered out of the room, Keba's voice inviting Tsuchi up on the bed drifting out after him.

* * *

Bankotsu stared at the wall. There was no way in hell he was falling asleep any time soon. His resolve was weakening; he could feel tears tickling the back of his eyes and his throat felt tight. He was angry; so angry. Jakotsu had crossed the line this time and it hurt more than ever.

In his rage, he had trashed his desk, stuffing all the pictures of him and his companion into the drawers. He'd flung the stupid stuffed snake and it landed somewhere behind Inu Yasha's dresser, but it didn't matter. He never wanted to see anything that reminded him of Jakotsu again.

He never wanted to see Jakotsu again.

Never…

His blue eyes watered with tears. _Dammit; I can't even stay angry with him! Even though he's hurting me and I want to be mad at him, I can't. I love him too much…_The young man curled up on his side, staring blankly at the white wall, his vision clouded by tears.

Why can't he love me the way I love him? I haven't so much as looked at another person since we've been together. He means everything to me…And he can't even make a commitment. He still checks out other guys…He still tells me he likes other guys…Why did I have to fall in love with him? Why? It would be so much easier if we were only friends…

But I do love him.

And I don't think that will ever change. No matter how much he hurts me, I'll always love him. Forever.

Then a little voice in the back of his mind, whispering: "Forever is just a word…"

* * *

Tsuchi looked up at Keba. The senior was laying on his back, staring at the ceiling. He kept his loft bed raised as high as possible, a good four feet off the floor and the mattress came up to Tsuchi's chest. He leaned against it, his chin resting in his hands as his dark gaze settled on the sprawled figure of Keba.

"Keba, do you love me?" He asked quietly.

Keba rolled over on his side, brown eyes meeting Tsuchi's. He studied the pale face for a moment; features worn from years of pain and loneliness, eyes rimmed from lack of proper sleep. It wasn't Tsuchi's appearance or even his anguished past that had first attracted Keba; no, it was simply the fact that he had understood and accepted him, knowing that there were things he hated about himself. "Yes." He replied evenly, "I do love you."

"How do you know?" The boy challenged.

His companion answered without skipping a beat. "I would do anything for you. I would be any one and do anything. You asked me the same question when I would talk about loving Kiyaku, remember?" He paused for a moment, lost in silent contemplation as one hand stretched out to brush across Tsuchi's cheek. "Last night I put you through hell, didn't I?" He questioned softly.

A small frown crossed Tsuchi's face as he pondered over how to answer this. It had hurt, of course, to hear Keba speak so much about how he regretted missing his chance with Kiyaku and how he wished he could go back and do it all again. He had thought things were getting better, but the wedding had left Keba hurt and melancholy once again. It seemed like no matter what, things would always lead back to the fact that Keba was desperately lonely for his true love.

For the first time in many years, tears filled Tsuchi's eyes. He had tried to turn himself off and shut himself down; tried to keep himself immune to pain, but over the past few months it hadn't been working. "You don't love me as much as you love him though, do you?" He choked out, "I'm only a replacement…"

Keba's face clouded with pain. "No…No, Tsuchi, honey, don't think that." He frowned, eyebrows knitting together. His hand cradled the younger man's face, wiping away the tears before they fell, "Maybe I do still feel for him and maybe I was despondent after his wedding, but I do truly love you."

Tsuchi sniffled, jerking back from his companion's touch. "'Was'?" He questioned, "You _were _despondent? You still are, Keba! No matter what I do, it's not good enough for you! You still love him and you always will!" He ran a sleeve over his eyes, wiping away his tears and then backed out of the room. "I need time to think."

"Tsuchi, wait!"

"I don't want to talk about it now." Tsuchi said firmly as he pulled the door shut behind him.

Keba sat up, stunned. _What just happened?_


	8. Chapter 7

Tsuchi wiped his eyes as he wandered across the hall to room 123 and poked his head into the common room. He knew that Bankotsu was in room A and he knew that Bankotsu was feeling just as lousy as he was. Maybe they could console one another and work out their problems together.

"What's wrong with you, kid?" Naraku questioned without even looking up from the TV screen. He was playing some bloody, gory game on his Play Station, his fingers tapping incessantly on the controller buttons.

"Do you think…" Tsuchi paused for a moment, "Do you think he'll let me in?"

"Sure. You're pretty reasonable and the fruit fly listens to you." Had the senior looked up, he would have seen the stressed, devastated expression on Tsuchi's face and realized it was a bad idea to let the teenager in the room. Or it probably wouldn't have mattered; Naraku would have sent him in anyway.

"Okay." He paused outside the door of room A, raising his hand to knock. "Bankotsu?" He questioned softly.

Bankotsu pushed himself up off the bed at the sound of his friend's voice. "What?" He mumbled, crawling across the bed to where he could reach the doorknob. He fumbled with the knob. It was hard to twist it while he was lying across the bed in such an odd position, "Whaddya want, Tsuchi?"

"Can I come in?" Came the muffled response.

"I guess so." Bankotsu rolled back over, staring at the wall again as the door slowly opened.

"Are you okay?" Tsuchi closed the door behind him and stood there, his back resting against the door. He studied Bankotsu, huddled and defenseless on the bed, back to him. His braid snaked down off the edge of the bed, dangling and swinging slightly. Bankotsu's hair was so long…

"I'm okay as I can be, considering the man I love tells me on a regular basis that other men are attractive." Came the withering response.

A wry smile crossed Tsuchi's face. "I understand." He said slowly.

Bankotsu rolled back over so that he was facing the younger boy rather than the wall. "Is Keba still brooding over Kiyaku?" He asked.

Tsuchi's dark eyes shimmered with tears and his face crumpled. "I don't think he really loves me at all." He whispered, his voice choked with emotion, "I think he just…Because we were so close before."

"No, Tsuchi, it's not like that. Think about it. Kiyaku was the first guy Keba ever liked, right? Before that, he went after girls that were out of his league. He fell in love with Kiyaku when he was seventeen but didn't tell him until two years later and he knew it was too late when he did. He told you everything before he even told Kiyaku…He went to you when he was hurting. I don't think he's realized yet just how much he loves you."

Tsuchi leaned over the bed, staring down into Bankotsu's deep blue eyes. "What if…" He drew in closer, eyes clouding over, "…He realizes it too late?"

It took Bankotsu a moment to register what was happening as Tsuchi's mouth captured his. He froze, unable to process a coherent thought, as Jakotsu's voice drifted through his mind: _"He thinks you're somethin' else…" _His next clear thought left him horrified.

And he just kissed me!

* * *

Jakotsu couldn't shake the feeling of doom that was following him as he unlocked the door of his apartment. Something bad was going to happen; something that would make this whole situation much worse rather than better. He wasn't sure what exactly the nagging feeling was, but he knew that _something_ was wrong.

The apartment seemed so lonely and empty as he pushed the door open. It was small and fairly bare -he didn't have much money, after all- but there was usually a welcoming, homey atmosphere due to the montage of photographs of himself and Bankotsu.

Today, the pictures only served to remind him of how messed up everything was.

He flopped down on the shabby sofa, kicking off his sandals and placing his feet on the coffee table. Two days. Bankotsu had been back for two days. _And I've already managed to fuck things up._ He sighed miserably, reaching blindly for the remote to his small TV.

He began flipping aimlessly through the channels, searching for something -anything- to take his mind off the way things were. _Keba is right,_ He told himself,_ Things will look better in the morning. He just needs some time to cool down, then I can apologize. Everything will be okay; he's really not so angry…And I'll try harder to…to not comment on other guys. To not ogle Inu Yasha._

To prove to Bankotsu that I really do love him.

This decided, he looked back up at the TV. There was some sappy chick flick playing -he quickly flicked the button again. And continued flicking. Finally he settled on a mildly amusing game show rerun from about thirty years ago. He was still distracted, but doing anything was better than brooding.

He brooded anyway.

"Goddammit; everything was perfect." He dropped the remote on the floor, "Why did I have to fuck it all up? Shit, I need a drink."_

* * *

_

Keba remained frozen in place on his bed, mouth hanging open as he tried to process what had just happened. He was stunned. He couldn't understand. He loved Tsuchi with all his heart and now…

Now Tsuchi was going to leave him, just like Kiyaku had.

This thought horrified him. Scared him out of his mind. He didn't think he could stand losing another person he loved. He could feel his eyes watering with tears; the back of his throat tightening. In a moment, he would be inconsolable, his chest heaving, tears spilling down his face as he cried. That's how it always was; that's how it always would be. Maybe he wasn't the kind of person who cried publicly, but when he did cry, it was bad.

Sobbing, he flopped down on the bed and buried his face in a pillow. _He's going to leave me. Just like…He's going to leave me. He told me he never wanted me to go away, but now he's going to leave me. I told him…I promised him…Forever…I can't…I can't…_He sniffled, hiccupping and shaking, his cries muffled by the feather pillow. _Why does every one I love leave me? Why? What have I done wrong?_

"Why? Why?! WHY?!"He screamed, throwing anything he could get his hands on. His pillow sailed across the room, landing in the hamper and a barrage of anime plushies pelted Tsuchi's bed. His other, smaller pillow slid under one of the beds and his alarm clock descended somewhere into the depths of the closet.

Then he grabbed the closest framed picture of himself and Tsuchi and flung it as hard as he could. It hit the wall, the glass shattering and spraying across Tsuchi's sheets.

Then he began sobbing again.

His whole body shook visibly and he could feel his throat tightening more. It was getting harder to breathe and he was still frightened and crying. His chest heaved as he tried to catch his breath, but he couldn't stop crying. If he didn't get a hold of himself soon…

Suddenly, he felt very warm and light-headed. A sort of tingly, prickly sensation coursed through him and he slumped back down on the bed. He was vaguely aware of that slow, surreal falling feeling as his face hit the mattress.

And then everything went black.

* * *

"Tsuchi! What the hell was _that_??" Horrified, Bankotsu pushed the younger boy away, trying to fight back the urge to blush. He scooted back on his bed as far as he could go until he bumped into the wall, then sat there staring at the other man, trying to find a reason for that sudden kiss.

Tsuchi suddenly seemed to realize what he had just done. Face flaming, he lowered his head, dark hair curtaining around his face. "I'm sorry…" He whispered, "Oh God, I'm sorry. I…" He faltered, trembling slightly, then his head rose again. His face was bright pink; his inky eyes wide and frightened. "You aren't…You don't…" He looked terrified. He looked like a scared animal; ready to run away at the slightest threat.

Bankotsu stared at the pattern on his bedspread as he tried to sort out the rush of emotions surging through him, then realized that he was more embarrassed than anything. Funny, but he didn't feel angry or grossed out or anything. In fact, he didn't really feel anything at all. The way that kiss had been…It was nothing like Jakotsu's kisses. It just…didn't mean anything. It didn't matter. Not at all.

Then he looked up. It certainly seemed to have mattered to Tsuchi. The sophomore looked mortified. He was babbling incoherently, his wide eyes never leaving Bankotsu's face as he apologized time and time again. The junior had never seen him so frightened or pitiable. Tsuchi had always struck him as some one strong.

"Tsuchi…"

The boy flinched at the sound of his name, taking a step back and crashing into Inu Yahsa's desk. He trembled slightly, waiting for the coming tirade. Bankotsu must have been angry with him….Bankotsu must have been disgusted. He cringed, wondering how badly damaged this friendship was.

Bankotsu felt sorry for him. _Hell, he's really embarrassed…He must think I'm upset…_"Tsuchi, calm down. I'm not mad at you." He sighed, moving forwards on the bed a little.

"You…You're not?" The other boy whispered. He looked back up, eyes meeting Bankotsu's, his expression one of incredulity.

"I'm not. Just…don't do that ever again." The braided boy looked at the wall, his cheeks tinged pink.

"I'm sorry…" Tsuchi whispered again, "I didn't mean…I was confused. I just…I want him to hurt the way I do…I want him to be jealous. I want him to feel _something _because of me. And if…" His face reddened, "If it had to be any one else, it would only be you."

Bankotsu flushed red, his mouth opening and then closing again.

"I know…" Tsuchi continued quietly, "You aren't gay. The only guy you like is Jakotsu. And no matter how much he hurts me, I love Keba anyway. I guess…I just wanted you to know. No regrets and all." He smiled weakly, wiping the tears from his eyes, "I'm really sorry."

"Look, I understand." The other boy scratched the back of his head, dropping his gaze back down to the bed, "But maybe…maybe it would be better…if you left now." He stammered, "Keba is probably upset."

"Yeah…I did yell at him and all…" Tsuchi sighed, "I guess I'll see you later then."

"I guess."

Feeling even more confused and lonely, the sophomore wandered back out into the hall, ignoring Naraku on his way by. He wasn't quite sure where he wanted to go or what he wanted to do. What he would have preferred was to go back into the room and cry while Keba held him and told him it was okay, but seeing as Keba was the one who had hurt and angered him, that would only defeat the purpose.

Maybe I'll go up to the Union and sit by the pond…He thought, _I do need some time to think and that's one of the best places here to be alone. But I need to get my ID out of the room…_

He dreaded going back in there. He knew if he saw Keba while he was still so emotionally wired, he would probably just yell more, then cry, and he didn't want that. He just wanted to be anywhere but there.

The door to room A was still ajar when he hesitantly entered the common room. He paused, hand above the knob, not really wanting to go in but finding it necessary.

But enter he must and enter he did, swinging the door open to find the room a complete shambles and Keba…unconscious on the bed.

* * *

Jakotsu rolled over, curling up on his side on the couch. He had a pounding headache and he had to pee, but he didn't think he could even stand up. He wasn't even sure how much he had drank, but his refrigerator was nearly empty and several drained bottles littered the floor.

And yet, he still didn't feel any better.

"Fuck." He mumbled. _I think I just made things even worse. I'm going to be a fucking mess tomorrow and my apology will come out fucking wrong and then he'll only get madder at me. _"Fuck; fuck; fuck." _Why, oh why, did I drink all of that???_ "He's never gonna forgive me…I'm in a shit-load of trouble…Dammit; I'm such an idiot. Best I've ever had and I'm going to lose him…" _The only one I've ever loved…I do love him. I really, truly do…_

And now I've fucked up big time.

* * *

"Keba!!" Tsuchi rushed over to his friend's bed. The brunet was slumped over on the bed, his face streaked with tears and his breathing labored. The room was a mess; there were pillows and stuffed animals all over the place, not to mention a shower of glass shards across his own bed. "Keba…Oh no…This is all my fault…"

He gently shook the older boy by the shoulder, trying to bring him around again. "Please Keba…Be okay; please." He rolled Keba over on his back, "Dammit; I got you upset, didn't I? I'm so sorry…Please; I never wanted this to happen…I wasn't thinking…" His eyes welled with tears, "I need you…I love you…Keba…Kuraku…Please…"

Keba moved ever so slightly, fresh tears rolling down his face as he struggled to catch his breath. "Tsu…chi…" He managed to gasp out, "…Sorry…"

Tsuchi sagged with relief. "No…You have nothing to be sorry about." He stroked Keba's cheek, "It was my fault." He looked away; face pale, eyes clouded with tears. "I'm sorry; I shouldn't have said all of those things." He glanced back up, gaze meeting Keba's for a second, then looked back down at the floor. "Do you want your inhaler?" He asked quietly.

"Top drawer…" Came the mumbled reply, "Shake it…" Keba slumped back down against the mattress, tears soaking into the sheets. "I…I was a-afraid you…" He paused, inhaling, trying to gain control over himself.

"Afraid I would what?" Tsuchi's voice was low as he shook the inhaler, "You need to sit up. Can you…?"

"…I w-was afraid you would le-leave me." Keba pushed himself up into a sitting position, using the wall for support. "I was afraid you," He paused, wheezing, "Would leave me l-like Kiyaku did…"

Tsuchi looked down at his feet, handing the medicine to his boyfriend. "I won't leave. I told you; never. I was just…feeling hurt and jealous." There was a whoosh sound as Keba puffed on the inhaler, followed by a long silence and some wheezy breathing.

There was a heavy sigh and then Keba spoke. "I'm sorry, Tsu. I'm so sorry." He paused, "I don't want to hurt you. I know I do, but I never wanted to. I've loved you since before we met, Tsuchi, and I will always love you. But I love Kiyaku as well and it may take a very long time for that to fade."

"I know…" Tsuchi lowered his head again, "I guess I just wish it didn't have to be that way. I understand why it is, but it makes me feel like a failure or something…Like I'm not good enough."

"That's not true." Keba's eyes widened slightly, "Here, come up here with me." He edged over slightly, creating room for Tsuchi to sit beside him.

The dark haired boy climbed up on the bed, settling himself next to Keba and resting his head on the older man's shoulder. He played absently with a lock of Keba's hair, staring off at the wall instead of his friend. "I love you and don't be mad…I…I kissed Bankotsu."

Keba didn't even miss a beat. "Was it hot?" He grinned, "I woulda liked to see that."

"I'm being serious…" Tsuchi said miserably, "After I yelled at you…I went over there and he tried to calm me down and I kissed him." He blushed lightly, his eyes welling with tears.

"Honey…Oh, don't cry…" Keba pulled him closer, burying his face in his hair. "I won't get mad. I know you've got a little thing for him and all." He nuzzled against Tsuchi's neck, "We're even now."

The sophomore sniffled. "You don't care?"

"Should I? Did it mean anything? Was it nice?"

"I…guess it didn't really feel like anything." Tsuchi said slowly, glancing up and meeting Keba's gaze, "Maybe because I don't love him the way I love you." He smiled shyly, "He's my friend, but you…You're special."

Keba grinned, twisting slightly to kiss Tsuchi on the nose. "You're special too, honey." He said softly, "And I heard before…You called me by my name."

"I was worried…" Tsuchi snuggled closer to him, burrowing into his embrace. "I was worried you wouldn't wake up and I would be alone. It scared me more than anything because I love you in all of your joys and sorrows, Kuraku."

A slow smile crossed the other boy's face. "And I love you, Tsuchi." He stroked the young man's cheek with his thumb, ducking down to kiss him gently, "I will always love you. And everything is going to be all right."

"For now."

"For now."

"D'you think that Bankotsu and Jakotsu will be okay? Bankotsu is really angry." Tsuchi snuggled down beside Keba, hair falling lightly across his face. "I'm worried about what will happen to them if they break up…"

"Don't worry." Keba petted his companion, smiling fondly, "I don't think they'll break up. They love each other too much, even if they are having some problems. Nobody is used to things being like this." He ran his hand through Tsuchi's hair, pushing long strands from his eyes, "They'll work it out."

"I hope so." The younger man sighed, "I don't like seeing people sad and upset."

"I know, honey." Keba cuddled him close, "But you have no control over this and they need to work it out on their own, you know? So try not to worry too much…They'll take care of their problems and all we can do is be there for them until they do. I believe it will all work out in the end." He yawned, "So don't fret over it."

"Are you tired?" Tsuchi suddenly looked concernedly up at Keba, "You must be exhausted. My bed is a mess…"

"I'll clean it up tomorrow." Keba's brown eyes slid shut and he sighed heavily, "I'm sorry I trashed the room."

"You were angry. I understand." A light blush crossed the boy's face, "But what I meant is I'll stay here with you tonight." He paused, "If that's okay with you."

Keba smiled lazily. "Do you really need to ask? Of course it's okay." He flopped down on his back, pulling Tsuchi down with him and holding him close. "It's very okay." He drew the younger man's face down, kissing him softly, "I'm so sorry I made you feel bad before. I want you to be there for me when I'm hurting, not feel bad because of it." His finger traced along Tsuchi's jaw line, "I want to share my sorrow with you because I want us to share everything."

"Everything?" Tsuchi rested his head upon Keba's chest, listening to the beating of his heart; the ragged, raspy breathing that went hand-in-hand with Keba's asthma. _It's my fault he can't breathe…I made him cry…I just don't understand at all. I try and try, but I can't understand why he can't let Kiyaku go…And it only makes us both suffer._ "I wish I understood better. I love you…I want to understand."

"It's not your fault you don't understand." Keba kissed the top of his head, "Even I don't understand at times. Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to go to sleep. It's been a long, emotional day."

"Okay." Tsuchi settled down next to Keba, his head under the brunet's chin. _It's not my fault I don't understand…But I do want to. I'll try harder…I promise; I'll try to understand you better._ He softly kissed Keba's neck, to which the older man purred lightly. "Don't ever leave me…" He whispered.

"Mmm…You say something?" Keba mumbled as he shifted slightly in an attempt to get more comfortable.

"No. Go to sleep." He smiled fondly, stroking the other man's cheek. "I love you."

"Love you too." Keba mumbled as he drifted off to sleep, fingers curled possessively through Tsuchi's hair, "Forever."


End file.
